What does Honu mean in Hawaiian?
Honu is a Hawaiian unisex name that means green sea turtle. The name comes from honu (turtle). It is pronounced HOH-noo, with 2 syllables. The stressed syllable is written in capitals.
Honu belongs with other Hawaiian names about ocean and nature.
The honu
Honu is the Hawaiian green sea turtle, the only sea turtle in the world that regularly hauls out on shore to bask. For many Hawaiian families it is an ʻaumakua, a guardian ancestor in animal form, and it carries the meanings of longevity, endurance and safe passage that show up in tattoo and carving work.
Honu are protected under state and federal law: approaching or touching one is an offence carrying substantial fines, and the usual guidance is to keep ten feet away.
The words inside Honu
honu means sea turtle.
How to pronounce Honu
Say every vowel. The vowels in Honu are o as in “go”, u as “oo”. See the full Hawaiian pronunciation guide.
Is Honu a boy or girl name?
Honu is unisex. Hawaiian has no grammatical gender, and most traditional names were given to any child.
How often Honu is given in the U.S.
No year from 1880 to 2023 saw five or more U.S. babies named Honu, and it never reaches five in the Hawaiʻi records either, so it is rare as a first name.
How well recorded is Honu?
Honu is built from vocabulary recorded in Pukui–Elbert, the standard Hawaiian dictionary, but it has no entry among documented Hawaiian given names.