Walter · English boy’s name

Walter in Hawaiian is Walaka

The form Hawaiian speakers have written since the 1800s, when R became L, T became K, a vowel was slipped between the consonants that ran together, and a vowel was added at the end.

Translate another name

Say it

wah·LAH·kah

The gold syllable takes the stress.

What is Walter in Hawaiian?

Walter is Walaka in Hawaiian, said wah-LAH-kah.

How Walter became Walaka

Hawaiian is written with thirteen letters, so in Walter R became L, T became K, a vowel was slipped between the consonants that ran together, and a vowel was added at the end. Hawaiian does not run two consonants together, and every syllable ends on a vowel. A Hawaiian word cannot finish on a consonant, which is where the last vowel comes from.

How to say Walaka

Say it wah-LAH-kah, leaning on LAH, sounding every vowel: a as in “father”. The pronunciation guide covers the whole system.

Where Walter comes from

Walter is a Germanic name built from words for rule and army, brought to England by the Normans. The Scottish writer Sir Walter Scott kept it popular in the 1800s, when it reached Hawaiʻi.

In Hawaiian it is Walaka. W is already a Hawaiian letter and stays, L stays, T becomes K and the R ending becomes a vowel, because Hawaiian has no R and words cannot end on a consonant.

Sources the Pukui and Elbert Hawaiian Dictionary, Place Names of Hawaii, Nānā i ke Kumu, wehewehe.org, Wiktionary's Hawaiian given names and U.S. Social Security baby-name records. How this site is compiled · Send a correction

Questions people ask

What is Walter in Hawaiian?

Walter is Walaka in Hawaiian, pronounced wah-LAH-kah. It is the form used in Hawaiian-language records since the 1800s.

How do you pronounce Walaka?

wah-LAH-kah, with the stress on LAH.

Why does Walaka look so different from Walter?

Each sound Hawaiian lacks was swapped for the nearest one it has. In Walter, R became L, T became K, a vowel was slipped between the consonants that ran together, and a vowel was added at the end.

Is Walaka a real Hawaiian name?

Yes, as a borrowed name. Hawaiian families have used Walaka since the 1800s, but it is Walter respelled, not a name built from Hawaiian words.

All 164 English names in Hawaiian · Hawaiian boy's names