What does Kūaliʻi mean in Hawaiian?
Kūaliʻi is a Hawaiian boy name that means standing chief, a legendary king of Oʻahu. The name comes from kū (to stand) + aliʻi (chief). It is pronounced koo-ah-LEE-ee, with 4 syllables. The stressed syllable is written in capitals.
Kūaliʻi belongs with other Hawaiian names about royalty and warrior.
Kūaliʻi of Oʻahu
Kūaliʻi was a ruling chief of Oʻahu in the 1700s, remembered as a warrior who extended his rule across the island. He is best known through a chant of about 600 lines composed in his honour, He Inoa no Kūaliʻi, which was collected by Abraham Fornander and published in English in 1893 as The Song of Kualii.
The name joins kū (to stand, upright) and aliʻi (chief), the standing chief. Because it belongs to a specific historic ruler, it carries that association for anyone who knows the history.
The words inside Kūaliʻi
kū means to stand, upright and appears in 5 Hawaiian names, among them Kū, Kūpono, Kaʻeokūlani, Kūpaʻa.
aliʻi means chief, chiefess, royal and appears in 5 Hawaiian names, among them Ailani, Kealiʻi, Keliʻi, Aliʻi.
How to pronounce Kūaliʻi
Say every vowel. The vowels in Kūaliʻi are u as “oo”, a as in “father”, i as “ee”. The ʻokina (ʻ) in Kūaliʻi is a short pause, like the break in “uh-oh”. A vowel with a line over it (kahakō) is held slightly longer. See the full Hawaiian pronunciation guide.
Is Kūaliʻi a boy or girl name?
Kūaliʻi is used mainly as a boy's name, though Hawaiian itself has no grammatical gender.
How often Kūaliʻi is given in the U.S.
No year from 1880 to 2023 saw five or more U.S. babies named Kūaliʻi, and it never reaches five in the Hawaiʻi records either, so it is rare as a first name.
How well recorded is Kūaliʻi?
Kūaliʻi has its own entry among Wiktionary’s documented Hawaiian given names.