Cruel sun
Lā is the sun and haina is cruel or merciless. The west side of Maui sits in the rain shadow of the West Maui Mountains and gets very little rain, so the name is straightforwardly about the heat.
An older spelling, Lāhainā, is also found. Some accounts give a different derivation entirely, from a place name Lele, which was the earlier name for the area.
Capital and whaling port
Lahaina was the capital of the Hawaiian Kingdom from 1820 to 1845, and through the mid-century it was among the busiest whaling ports in the Pacific, with hundreds of ships anchoring in the roadstead each season.
The town's historic district, including the banyan planted in 1873, was largely destroyed by the wildfire of August 2023. Rebuilding is ongoing and much of the area remains restricted.