volcano · Kauaʻi

Kawaikini

“the multitudinous water”

kah-wye-KEE-nee

The actual summit of Kauaʻi.

The many waters

Ka wai kini is the multitude of waters — kini being a great number, formally forty thousand. The name belongs to a peak that stands in the same saturated summit region as Waiʻaleʻale.

At 5,243 feet Kawaikini is the highest point on Kauaʻi, about a hundred feet above Waiʻaleʻale, though Waiʻaleʻale is far better known.

Alakaʻi

Both peaks sit above the Alakaʻi, the high plateau bog that drains them. The rain that lands here is the source of most of Kauaʻi's fresh water.

Sources

Hawaiian Dictionary, Mary Kawena Pukui and Samuel H. Elbert, University of Hawaiʻi Press, 1986. Used for word meanings and spellings.
Place Names of Hawaii, Pukui, Elbert, and Esther T. Mookini, University of Hawaiʻi Press, 1974. Used for island, town, and volcano names.
Nānā i ke Kumu (Look to the Source), Pukui, Haertig, and Lee, Queen Liliʻuokalani Children's Center, 1972. Used for naming customs.
Nā Puke Wehewehe ʻŌlelo Hawaiʻi (wehewehe.org), Ulukau, the Hawaiian Electronic Library. Used for checking each word against the online dictionary.
Hawaiian given names, Wiktionary category, Creative Commons BY-SA. Used for attested names and gender.
Popular Baby Names by State, U.S. Social Security Administration. Used for popularity.

Uncertain meanings are marked on the page. Modern combinations of name elements are labeled as such. Read how this site is compiled or send a correction.