Hawaiian name for a keiki (child)?

[Queenolu]

Re: Hawaiian name for a keiki (child)?

Heavenly garland

Mahalo.... it is even more beautiful now that I know...

[jimnyo]

Re: Hawaiian name for a keiki (child)?

i'm on the hunt for our son's middle name. we picked kaleolani, "heavenly voice" or "voice of heaven" for our daughter, which one of our hawaiian friends helped us with. i was gonna ask one of my aunties at my daughter's preschool, but i won't see her until thrusday so i thought i'd ask here: what would "answered prayer" translate to and would it be appropriate to bestow as a name? i know of 'kapule', but i wanted something a bit more specific...or even "wish fulfilled", if there isn't a good translation of the former. thanks all!

[Lei K]

Re: Hawaiian name for a keiki (child)?

Personally, I like Leilani.

Awww, I like you too. HAHAHAHAHA.

[anapuni808]

Re: Hawaiian name for a keiki (child)?

after re-reading my original posting - it should have said that my daughter's paternal grandmother gave her the Hawaiian name. My own grandmother's name was given to her with permission of my grandmother. I was so glad I had talked with her about it because she passed away several months before my daughter was born - so her having the name has always had a special meaning for me. She is the only child of my (huge) family who carries that name. The only other one was of my generation and she passed many years ago.

I was named after an aunt and always resented not having my "own" name until I learned some of my family geneaology - my name goes back to the earliest generations of my family in 11th century England and there are many with this name thoughout our history. Now I carry the name very proudly.

[Lei Liko]

Re: hawaiian name for a keiki (child)?

Hawaiian custom is that a close relative, such as grandparent or a close family friend chooses the name to bestow on the child, almost as a gift to that child. My daughter's name was chosen for her by her grandmother and has meaning for her due to its connection to family history. Her second name is after my grandmother and I asked permission of her to use the name. So, both grandmothers named my daughter - one Hawaiian, one not.

I (along with all the grandchildren) was given my name by my paternal grandmother. Since she has since passed, the job of naming the babies at birth now falls on my auntie, my father's eldest sister.

My Hawaiian name reflects my father's familial ties to the Big Island, and I'm sure that if and when it's time for me to have children, they'll receive names that'll have a deep meaning for the father and me...not just because it sounds nice.

[Leo Lakio]

Re: Hawaiian name for a keiki (child)?

Personally, I like Leilani. I don't know what it means but I just like it.

Heavenly garland

[Queenolu]

Re: Hawaiian name for a keiki (child)?

Personally, I like Leilani. I don't know what it means but I just like it.

[akrauth]

Re: Hawaiian name for a keiki (child)?

Don't know what I would name a keikikane (boy,) but I would name a kaikamahine (girl) Melelana, after Keali'i Reichel's fourth album. The name came to me because of it's translation. It means "floating song" which poetically means "lullaby." Because of the fact that I'm a singer, I'd probably want my keiki to be a singer too. I could also call her Mele for short. He inoa u'i! (A beautiful name!) 'Ea?

[akrauth]

Re: hawaiian name for a keiki (child)?

Are those the only options? Because locally we just had a girl from Kauai join our newsteam and her name is Nohelani and I LOVE it, it is so beautiful! It flows no nicely.

I wonder what it means?

It means heavenly beauty.

[Hellbent]

Re: hawaiian name for a keiki (child)?

my nephews name is kahekili.

[Leo Lakio]

Re: hawaiian name for a keiki (child)?

...Kekūanaō‘a. I'm sure my youngest is going to just love all those Hawaiian diacritical marks.

Good for you, Ryan, and I hope he grows up to help educate the rest of us in the accuracy of the Hawaiian language, as a personal example.

[i-hungry]

Re: Hawaiian name for a keiki (child)?

Use the "Ikaika" name. He will be in good company of a lot of same name boys.

[anapuni808]

Re: hawaiian name for a keiki (child)?

PZ - you are correct. I've had a few translations given to me over the years. But, there seems to be some difference between "free spirit" and "uhane" which usually means a ghost like presence. and therein lies the problem with the translation. Since there seems to be no consensus, I've lived with Palakika. My bracelet has an olelo noeau on it which has a deep personal meaning. I've always felt that until someone actually "gives" me a name, I should use none. Maybe there is a translation for "smart ass" or something that would apply?

[Lei K]

Re: hawaiian name for a keiki (child)?

Absolutely there are reasons behind each of my sons names. First sons name is taken from one of our Kanaka 'ohana surnames, second son is named after my great uncle (and not the famous actor with the same name ) , and my third son was named by my mother and his inoa was chosen for various reasons.

[pzarquon]

Re: hawaiian name for a keiki (child)?

To get a true Hawaiian name, one would need to translate THAT into Hawaiian - it would come out something like "Palena Ole" but even that is not correct which is why my jewelry says "Palakika".

"Palena 'ole" would be "no boundaries," yes? Perhaps "free spirit" would be something like 'Uhaneku'u," but that's a flat dictionary name and I have no doubt someone steeped in the culture and language could come up with something more appropriate.

I recently tried to do the same for Mary, or Malia, going to the root for Mary, which was "star of the sea." There are a variety of ways one could approach that, as well, though again my best effort was dictionary based.

By the way, check out this Wikipedia entry for "Hawaiian name." I'd never seen it before, and there's a lot of good information there. Check out the list of most popular and defined Hawaiian names. I have no idea if the entry's been vetted by a Hawaiian expert (and we all know that Wikipedia can be a crapshoot), but it's a nice starting point.

By the way, my Hawaiian name is Kawailani. My daughter's is Kilinahe, and my sons' are Kauanoe and Kekūanaō‘a. I'm sure my youngest is going to just love all those Hawaiian diacritical marks.