volcano · Hawaiʻi

Kīlauea

“spewing, much spreading”

kee-low-EH-ah

The most active volcano in the world, and the home of Pele.

Spewing

Kīlauea means spewing or much spreading, which describes the behaviour rather than the shape. It is a shield volcano on the southeastern flank of Mauna Loa, long thought to be a satellite of it and now understood to have its own magma system.

Its summit caldera holds Halemaʻumaʻu, understood as the home of Pele.

2018

The 2018 lower Puna eruption opened fissures through a residential subdivision, destroyed some seven hundred homes, and added new land to the coast. The summit crater collapsed by several hundred metres over the same months. Eruptions have resumed repeatedly since.

Kīlauea is also the name of a town and a lighthouse on the north shore of Kauaʻi, unrelated to the volcano.

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.