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Hawaiian Name Finder

Polynesian Names

Hawaiian, Samoan, Māori, and Tongan are sister languages, so the same given names travel across the Pacific with small changes in sound. Start with a culture, or see the names they share. For Hawaiian family names, see Hawaiian last names.

Polynesian names from Hawaiʻi, Samoa, Aotearoa, and Tonga

Names shared across Polynesia

Polynesian languages descend from a common ancestor spoken about 3,000 years ago. Hawaiian swapped t for k and r for l, Māori kept t and r, and Samoan and Tongan kept the older ng and f sounds. The same word for a name looks different but means the same thing.

NameMeaningWhere it is used
MoanaoceanHawaiian, Samoan, Māori, Tongan
ManubirdHawaiian, Samoan, Māori, Tongan
Māuithe demigod who snared the sunHawaiian, Māori, Tongan
Hinathe woman in the moonHawaiian, Tongan
Lani / Lagi / Langi / Rangisky, heavenHawaiian, Samoan, Tongan, Māori
Kai / TaiseaHawaiian. Māori kai means food
Toa / KoawarriorSamoan, Tongan / Hawaiian
Fetū / Hōkū / WhetūstarSamoan, Hawaiian, Māori
Aloha / Alofa / ʻOfa / ArohaloveHawaiian, Samoan, Tongan, Māori
Wai / VaiwaterHawaiian and Māori / Samoan and Tongan

Questions people ask

What is the difference between Polynesian and Hawaiian names?

Hawaiian names are one branch of Polynesian names. Polynesia also includes Samoa, Tonga, Tahiti, the Cook Islands, and Aotearoa New Zealand (Māori). The languages are closely related, so a name like Moana is used in all of them.

Is Moana a Hawaiian or Polynesian name?

Both. Moana means ocean in Hawaiian, Samoan, Māori, Tongan, and Tahitian. The 2016 film drew on all of these cultures rather than one.

Why do Polynesian names sound similar?

They come from one ancestral language, Proto-Polynesian. Regular sound shifts turned t into k in Hawaiian (Tāne became Kāne) and r into l (Rangi became Lani), while Samoan and Tongan kept g/ng and f sounds that Hawaiian lost.

More Hawaiian name lists