Hawaiian Place Names
Hawaiian towns and beaches are named for what is there: the water, the sun, the shape of the land, and the stories told about it. Here is what the names mean and how to say them.
Town and city names
| Name | Island | Meaning | Say it |
|---|---|---|---|
| Honolulu | Oʻahu | sheltered bay, calm harbor | hoh-noh-LOO-loo |
| Waikīkī | Oʻahu | spouting fresh water, for the springs and streams that once fed its wetlands | wye-kee-KEE |
| Kailua | Oʻahu and Hawaiʻi | two seas, two currents | kye-LOO-ah |
| Kāneʻohe | Oʻahu | bamboo man, from a legend of a cruel husband | kah-neh-OH-heh |
| Hilo | Hawaiʻi | new moon, to twist or braid | HEE-loh |
| Kona | Hawaiʻi | leeward, the dry sunny side | KOH-nah |
| Lahaina | Maui | cruel sun, for the heat of the dry west side | lah-HYE-nah |
| Kīhei | Maui | cape or shawl | KEE-hay |
| Wailuku | Maui | water of destruction, for a battle fought in its stream | wye-LOO-koo |
| Kahului | Maui | the winning | kah-hoo-LOO-ee |
| Hāna | Maui | meaning uncertain, possibly work or bay | HAH-nah |
| Līhuʻe | Kauaʻi | cold chill | lee-HOO-eh |
| Kapaʻa | Kauaʻi | the solid, the closing | kah-PAH-ah |
| Hanalei | Kauaʻi | crescent bay, or lei-making bay | hah-nah-LAY |
| Waimea | Kauaʻi and Hawaiʻi | reddish water, for the red soil in its rivers | wye-MEH-ah |
| Kōloa | Kauaʻi | long sugarcane, or the native duck | KOH-loh-ah |
| Kapolei | Oʻahu | beloved Kapo, sister of Pele | kah-poh-LAY |
| ʻEwa | Oʻahu | crooked, stray, from a legend of a lost stone | EH-vah |
| Mililani | Oʻahu | exalted, praised, a place beloved of chiefs | mee-lee-LAH-nee |
| Waipahu | Oʻahu | bursting water, for its artesian springs | wye-PAH-hoo |
| Puʻuloa | Oʻahu | long hill, the Hawaiian name for Pearl Harbor | poo-oo-LOH-ah |
| Kahuku | Oʻahu | the projection, for the northern point of the island | kah-HOO-koo |
| Haleʻiwa | Oʻahu | house of the frigate bird | hah-leh-EE-vah |
| Mākaha | Oʻahu | fierce, for the robbers who once held the valley | MAH-kah-hah |
| Waiʻanae | Oʻahu | mullet water | wye-ah-NYE |
| Kaunakakai | Molokaʻi | beach landing, from Kaunakahakai | kow-nah-kah-KYE |
| Lānaʻi City | Lānaʻi | the town takes the island's name, possibly day of conquest | lah-NAH-ee |
Beach names
| Name | Island | Meaning | Say it |
|---|---|---|---|
| Waikīkī | Oʻahu | spouting fresh water | wye-kee-KEE |
| Lanikai | Oʻahu | heavenly sea, a 1920s name for the Kaʻōhao shore | lah-nee-KYE |
| Hanauma | Oʻahu | curved bay, or hand-wrestling bay | hah-NOW-mah |
| Paumalū | Oʻahu | taken secretly, the Hawaiian name for Sunset Beach | pow-mah-LOO |
| ʻEhukai | Oʻahu | sea spray, the beach at the Banzai Pipeline | eh-hoo-KYE |
| Kāʻanapali | Maui | divided cliffs, or rolling cliffs | kah-ah-nah-PAH-lee |
| Mākena | Maui | abundance | mah-KEH-nah |
| Wailea | Maui | water of Lea, the goddess of canoe builders | wye-LEH-ah |
| Poʻipū | Kauaʻi | crashing waves, wave-drenched | poh-ee-POO |
| Hāpuna | Hawaiʻi | spring of water | HAH-poo-nah |
| Punaluʻu | Hawaiʻi | spring dived for, the black sand beach | poo-nah-LOO-oo |
| Papakōlea | Hawaiʻi | plover flats, the green sand beach | pah-pah-KOH-leh-ah |
| Kaʻōhao | Oʻahu | the tying, the older name for Lanikai | kah-OH-how |
| Kalapakī | Kauaʻi | double-yolked egg | kah-lah-pah-KEE |
How to read a Hawaiian place name
Most place names are two or three ordinary words. Wai is fresh water, so Waikīkī, Wailuku, Waimea, Waipahu, and Waiʻanae are all places defined by their water. Hale is house, so Haleʻiwa is the house of the frigate bird and Haleakalā is the house of the sun. Puʻu is a hill, kai is the sea, hono is a bay, and lani is heaven. Once you know a dozen words, the map of Hawaiʻi reads like a description of the land, which is exactly what it was meant to be.
Some names remember events. Wailuku is the water of destruction, for a battle fought in its stream. Kahului is the winning. Mākaha is fierce, for the robbers who once held the valley. Others remember people and gods. Kapolei is beloved Kapo, Pele’s sister. Wailea is the water of Lea, goddess of canoe builders. Kāneʻohe, bamboo man, comes from a woman who compared her cruel husband to a bamboo knife.
Where a meaning is uncertain, this list says so, following Pukui, Elbert, and Mookini’s Place Names of Hawaii. Several beaches carry a twentieth-century English name over an older Hawaiian one. Sunset Beach is Paumalū, Pipeline is ʻEhukai, and Lanikai was named by a developer in the 1920s over the older Kaʻōhao. The Hawaiian names are back on the signs.
Place names as baby names
Several of these places are also given names. Hanalei, Mākena, Kailua, Kona, and Hilo appear in the A to Z list, and Lanikai and Kapalua are used on the mainland as girl names. See also the names of the islands and the volcanoes.