Hawaiian Middle Names

The Hawaiian middle-name tradition

From 1860 until 1967 Hawaiian law required a Christian first name, so for a century the Hawaiian name of a child was carried in the middle. The habit outlived the law. In the islands today it is normal for a child to be Emma Kehaulani or Noah Kealiʻi, with the Hawaiian name chosen by a grandparent, an aunt, or a family elder, and the English name chosen by the parents. Many families see the Hawaiian middle name as the real name, the one that carries the family’s story, and use it at home.

The traditional ways a name arrives still apply to middle names. An inoa pō comes to a relative in a dream. An inoa hoʻomanaʻo commemorates something that happened around the birth. An inoa kupuna is an ancestral name passed down. When a grandparent gives a middle name in Hawaiʻi it is usually one of these, and it is considered poor form to refuse it.

Pairing a Hawaiian middle name

Hawaiian names end in a vowel, so the flow depends on the first name’s ending. A first name that ends in a consonant, Grace, Liam, Owen, Charlotte, pairs cleanly with almost any Hawaiian name. First names that end in a vowel sound, Mia, Ava, Leo, Noah, work best with a Hawaiian middle name that starts with a consonant, Kalani, Makana, Nalani, Kekoa, so the two names do not run together.

Length is the other lever. A short first name takes a long middle name well, Kai Kalanikūpule, Lei Kealohilani, and a long first name takes a short one, Isabella Noe, Alexander Koa. Meaning matters too. Families often choose a middle name that echoes the first, so Grace becomes Grace Lokomaikaʻi (kindness) and Lucy, from the Latin for light, becomes Lucy Alaula (dawn light).

Hawaiian middle names that also work as first names

Kalani, Makana, Kealoha, Keola, Leilani, Kai, Noa, and Koa are all used both ways. If there is any chance the child will go by the Hawaiian name, choose one of these and let the child decide later. The short names and long names pages sort the whole list by length.