The "Island of Hawaiʻi" will now be known simply as "Hawaiʻi" on official state documents.
The Hawaiʻi Board on Geographic Names voted in favor of the change last week after more than a year of discussion on what the island's official name should be.
Marques Hanalei Marzan is the Bishop Museum's cultural advisor and member of the volunteer board. He supports the name change, which is more consistent with naming conventions for other Hawaiian islands.
"We wanted to honor the island's name by returning it just to Hawaiʻi, like all of its neighboring islands of Maui, Lānaʻi, Molokaʻi, Oʻahu, Kauaʻi, and Niʻihau, and give it that distinction as that is its true name, and not 'island of,'" he said.
Marzan said that the name Hawaiʻi also has important historical associations. Different iterations of the name, like Savaiʻi in Samoa and Havai'i in French Polynesia, appear throughout the Pacific.
"Our Polynesian ancestors migrated from island to island," he said. "There are these ancestral names that have been carried across the Pacific. And I believe Hawaiʻi is one of those names that has been carried across."
When the board first proposed dropping "Island of" from Hawaiʻi's official title in March 2024, some members of the public expressed concern.
During the board's monthly meeting, community members questioned the board's authority and sought clarification on how the name change would be applied. Overall, Marzan said the reaction was "mixed."
He emphasized that this change is very narrow — it only applies to how the island is identified in state documents. State agencies should adhere to the change, but the public doesn't have to.
"This name change doesn't change how people can address the island. [The] community has the right to use whatever name that they feel comfortable with," Marzan said.
What's in a name?
The title "Island of Hawaiʻi" was likely adopted as Hawaiʻi's official name to distinguish it from the State of Hawaiʻi.
Bobby Camara is a lifelong Hawaiʻi Island resident who got involved in the restoration of inoa ʻāina, or traditional place names, during his career with the Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park.
He feels the distinction between island and state is usually clear from context.
"If I say I am from and born 'in Hawaiʻi,' that to me means the state, [but] 'on Hawaiʻi' means this island," he said.
Another way to signify that you're speaking about Hawaiʻi Island is to use one of its many Hawaiian monikers, such as Moku o Keawe.
Moku o Keawe references the aliʻi Keaweʻīkekahialiʻiokamoku, the great-grandfather of Kamehameha I, according to Kuʻulei Kanahele, a researcher with the Edith Kanakaʻole Foundation.
Kanahele said Keaweʻīkekahialiʻiokamoku was known for being a powerful aliʻi who maintained peace during his reign.
She said that when people use the name Moku o Keawe, they're invoking one of the most important lineages of the island.
"We're still saying his name, speaking his name, putting it out there in the atmosphere," she said.
Geographer Drew Kapp teaches at Hawaiʻi Community College, where he's been working with his students to create maps with inoa ʻāina for different Hawaiʻi ahupuaʻa, including Puna and Hilo.
Kapp said that because of his work in geography, he's "enamored with landscapes" and prefers a more descriptive name for the island: Hawaiʻi Kuauli, or Hawaiʻi nui Kuauli.
That name comes from ʻōlelo noʻeau and roughly translates to "the island of the verdant back," Kapp said.
"Kua is the back and uli is this deep, beautiful, dark, vibrant color. To me, that actually is a really beautiful and fitting image of Hawaiʻi, the island. So if people wanted to make a distinction, that would be the one that I would advocate [for]," he said.
Ākeamakamae Kiyuna also teaches at Hawaiʻi Community College. She said the name she chooses to use for Hawaiʻi depends on the context.
"It's kind of like how as people, we have different names depending on different contexts that we're in, with family, with friends, professionally and whatnot," she said.
She encourages her Hawaiian Studies students to try out names they may not be as comfortable with, like Moku o Keawe and Hawaiʻi Kuauli.
"Knowing these different names of the island allows us to have a more holistic view of this place of Hawaiʻi," she said.
There is one name she advises her students to avoid — Big Island.
Kiyuna said she feels that the name Big Island doesn't carry the same cultural weight or linguistic significance as Hawaiʻi's other names.
"I say to my students, the biggest takeaway they can take from my class is if they stop calling this 'Big Island,'" she said.
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