If you look at the list of most popular names in the state of Hawaii, you won’t find them very different from others, with Chloe, Isabella and Madison, Ethan, Noah and Isaiah at the top.  It isn’t until you get quite a bit futher down the list that you find names more reflective of the distinctive native nomenclature, such as Kai, Leilani, Malia, Kainoa, and Kalena.

In the past, names have  held deep significance in the Hawaiian culture, especially prior to the arrival of English-speaking missionaries in the late 18^th century.  Before that, the choice of a name involved the whole extended family, and was believed to have been  sent by the family’s ancestor god, either via a dream, a spoken message or some other sign, and to ignore it could mean illness or death to the baby.  Another  old tradition was for several words— of particular significance to the parents– to be joined together into one long name, which would then be shortened into a nickname.  Much of this came to an end in 1880, when King Kamehameha IV enacted a law mandating that all citizens follow the standard European system of naming—that is using a Christian name followed by a surname–which didn’t exist before.   

There are few families of names as lilting, rhythmic, and romantic as indigenous Hawaiian names.  In both sound and meaning, they evoke pleasant images, many of them related to nature—flowers, the forest, sky and water.  Part of this flavor derives from the fact that there are only five vowels and seven consonants in the language, making the names rich in vowel sounds, each of which is pronounced as a separate syllable.  Many English names have been “Hawaiianized,”  to accommodate the missing consonants. (see below to translate your own name to Hawaiian)

Many, if not most, traditional Hawaiian names are used interchangeably for girls and boys, but here are some that are more or less gender specific, with their meanings and/or English equivalents.  Note that the accent is always on the next to last syllable.)

 GIRLS

 AKELINA  –  noble (form of Adeline)

ALAMEA –  ripe, precious

ALANI  –  orange tree

ALEKA –  nobility ( form of Alice)

ALOHI  –  shining, brilliant
(more…)

Wherever Ewe Go, There Ewe Are is the wonderful blog of today’s guest blogger formally known as “Ewe,” an American living in the United Kingdom with her Scottish husband.  She’s the mom of two sons, ages four and two, and is expecting a daughter, known for now as Lambchop.

I always thought I’d know exactly what I would name my daughter, but now that I’m actually having one, I’m seriously waffling. There are soooo many lovely girl names out there. And as a result, some of my ’sure thing’ name combination options aren’t looking so ’sure thing’ anymore. In fact, a whole slew of girls names that I have always thought I would give ultra-serious consideration to were almost immediately off the table for a whole variety of reasons.

Here, girls’ names I love and admire….but WON’T be using.

1. FREYA. I adore the name Freya. In fact, back when I was pregnant with Boo, before I knew Boo was a “he”, Freya was at the top of my list for a wee girl. It’s a gorgeous name that doesn’t even crack the top 1000 list in the U.S., which is a head-scratcher for me because it’s a chronic top 20 name in England and Scotland. But, sadly, that’s why we took it off our list now that we’re actually having a girl; it’s waaaay too popular here. I see so many little Freyas everywhere I go here. If we lived in the states, this would be our likely choice. But we don’t, so it’s out.

2. MALIA. Another long, long-time favorite name. One of my sister’s best friends growing up was named Malia; and I fell even more in love with it during my six years in Hawaii. It’s just so pretty when it rolls off the tongue. But then we elected a new President last year, and guess what? His oldest girl’s name is Malia, which means it’s going to go straight up the popularity charts. Plus, it’s Hawaiian, and my husband isn’t quite as keen on the idea.

3. TRIONA. My love of Celtic and Irish music led me to this name years ago. It’s a shortened version of Catriona or Caitriona. But my husband pointed out that, technically, I was pronouncing it wrong (tree-oh-nah) when it should be pronounced like ‘trina’. And he was only willing to consider the full version of Catriona, which faces the same pronuncation issues, which I’m not as keen on. Plus, we already have an Auntie Trina, which violates one of my existing naming rules. (Not to mention the fact that a good friend made fun of it years ago, but I forgive her. She had a good point. heh heh)

4. AUDREY. Audrey is just a lovely, lovely name, made famous by the even lovelier Ms Hepburn. But it’s been screaming up the charts in the U.S. the past few years, and is clearly headed for the top 20 very soon. An old-fashioned name that is clearly coming back around, and rightfully so. But its popularity means it’s not for us.

5. LEILANI. Another gorgeous Hawaiian name that I’ve always admired; another ‘no’ from my husband.

6. LORELEI. Ditto the Hawaiian gorgeousness. And made even more mainstream in popularity by the quirky television series The Gilmore Girls. And now envision the ‘too Hawaiian’ name being vetoed by my husband with the addition of an eye-roll. Sigh.

7. ADELE. Another lovely, old-fashioned name that I think deserves to make a comeback. But I also can’t quite imagine giving it to a baby because it still sounds like an “older” name. I suspect that’s the reason it still hasn’t re-entered the top 1000 names in the U.S. We’d have to use a nickname, like Ada (and we have one of those in the family already, so ‘no’) or Addie while Lambchop was little. And, to be honest, I’m not huge on nicknames, so it’s an unlikely choice for us.

8. VIOLETA. Pronounced vee-oh-letta, I think this is a very pretty, sweet name for a girl. A lovely flower name, the prettier version of Violet. But one of Ramekin’s best friends on our street is named Violeta, so no go.

9. ANNIKA. On paper, and on the tongue, the name fits all of our potential naming criteria. It’s a lovely Scandinavian name (Swedish, though, not Norwegian), which would probably delight my Norwegian MIL. But after much –and I mean much– consideration while I seriously considered it, I just don’t think it will work with our childrens’ last names. There’s just something not quite right about it for us…. so it was with regret I took it out of serious contention. (I suppose it could make a comeback, though…you never know.)

10a and 10b. AILSA and ISLA. Both names are beautiful, traditional Scottish girl names that my Scotland-born husband really likes. But Isla is incredibly popular right now, so I’m not interested in using it. And, while Ailsa is lovely, the truth is, it sounds foreign coming off my tongue. I struggle to pronounce it properly, and I want a name I can easily pronounce for my own daughter. When I say Ailsa, it sounds more like Elsa, an almost equally lovely Scandinavian name, and, incidentally, the name of one of my husband’s (now deceased) Norwegian Aunts. But we know a four-month old Elsa. And I don’t like the look of it as much as Ailsa. So it lingers on the discarded names list.

11. SERENA. Pretty, but ruined by the existence of the teeny bopper television show Gossip Girl. I can only imagine how many younger moms-to-be will be using this name for their own daughters in the coming years.

12. JOELLE. Getting really tired of my husband’s eye rolls, which is what I got when I suggested it. And a reminder that we’re not French.

13. ARLETTE. My husband again reminds me that we’re not French, the party-pooper.

Bonus round: A few additional lovely, old-fashioned girly names we won’t be using because they’re just too darn popular over here, all in the top 20: HANNAH; CHARLOTTE; OLIVIA; LILY

*******************************

We’d like to offer our CONGRATULATIONS on the arrival of three beautiful (and beautifully named) baby girls born to members of the extended Nameberry family:

ESME JULIETTE, daughter of our friend Hilary at the wonderful pregnancy site thecradle.com

EULALIE, daughter of one of favorite bloggers (and nameberry guest bloggers), Elisabeth, of youcantcallitit, where you can find her amusing description of  how she arrived at the name, and….

VIOLET KATHERINE, daughter of nameberry boards regular Kristen, who offered her thanks to all of you, writing  “Your book, the website and the advice of the wonderful ladies who are regulars on your forums led me to choose a name that had meaning for me and my family (instead of a name that I simply thought sounded cool) .”