“sea and sky”
Girl
Hawaiian Middle Names
In Hawaiʻi the Hawaiian name is very often the middle name, chosen by a grandparent and carrying the family's meaning behind an English first name. Here are the names families reach for, and how to pair them.
Hawaiian middle names for girls
“heavenly lei, royal child”
Girl“calm and gentle, Hawaiian form of Mary”
Girl“awakening, an offering”
Girl“joy, happiness, bright”
Girl“divine, Hawaiian form of Diana”
Girl“child of heaven, heavenly flowers”
Girl“generous one (popular reading), to be lost or absorbed”
Girl“moon, moonlight”
Girl“the maile vine, a fragrant lei plant”
Girl“the heavens, calm skies”
Girl“angel”
Girl“cool, soft fragrance, like a mountain breeze”
Girl“fond remembrance of a loved one”
Girl“goddess of the moon”
Girl“heavenly star”
Girl“to soar like a hawk”
Girl“the royal sacred one, the highest point of heaven”
Girl
Hawaiian middle names for boys
“the cool breeze”
Boy“brave, bold, fearless, the koa tree”
Boy“freedom, free from restriction”
Boy“strong, powerful”
Boy“Hawaiian form of David”
Boy“the brave one, the warrior”
Boy“Hawaiian form of John”
Boy“Hawaiian form of James”
Boy“fearless, courageous, bold”
Boy“the free one”
Boy“the demigod who snared the sun, the island of Maui”
Boy“Aaron”
Boy“Hawaiian form of Isaac”
Boy“Hawaiian form of Adam”
Boy“Hawaiian form of Anthony”
Boy“Hawaiian form of Albert”
Boy“defender of the people, Hawaiian form of Alex”
Boy“Abel”
Boy
Unisex Hawaiian middle names
“the heavens, the royal one”
Unisex“ocean, the open sea”
Unisex“the beloved, the loved one”
Unisex“the life”
Unisex“sky, heaven, royal”
Unisex“high chief”
Unisex“heavenly cloud”
Unisex“star”
Unisex“power of the sea, diamond”
Unisex“the namesake, also read as the free sea”
Unisex“the sweetheart”
Unisex“the lei, the beloved child”
Unisex“the voice, the sound”
Unisex“heavenly child, royal child”
Unisex“the one and only, the precious one”
Unisex“the flower, the blossom”
Unisex“youthful beauty”
Unisex“the fire, the flame”
Unisex
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.