What does Kaʻiwalani mean in Hawaiian?
Kaʻiwalani is a Hawaiian girl name that means the heavenly frigate bird. The name comes from ka (the) + ʻiwa (frigate bird) + lani (heaven). It is pronounced kah-ee-vah-LAH-nee, with 4 syllables. The stressed syllable is written in capitals.
A modern combination of common Hawaiian name elements rather than a traditional name.
Kaʻiwalani belongs with other Hawaiian names about bird, ocean, heaven and sky.
How to pronounce Kaʻiwalani
Say every vowel. A as in “father”, e as in “bet”, i as “ee”, o as in “go”, u as “oo”. The ʻokina (ʻ) in Kaʻiwalani is a short pause, like the break in “uh-oh”. A w after i or e is pronounced like a v. See the full Hawaiian pronunciation guide.
Is Kaʻiwalani a boy or girl name?
Kaʻiwalani is used mainly as a girl's name. Like most Hawaiian names it has no grammatical gender, so it can be given to any child, but modern usage leans feminine.