Hawaiian language revival in recent decades has allowed many to look closer at language-related traditions, like giving Hawaiian names.
In Hawaiian culture, names are believed to be representative of a person's spirit — and could shape their path in life.
Kauaʻi resident Maluhia States became fluent in Hawaiian as an adult. He teaches language classes on his website, Ka Alala, and shares videos on social media.
The Conversation spoke with him about why Hawaiians believe giving Hawaiian names is sacred. He's offering workshops on Hawaiian naming tradition on Aug. 15 at the Waiwai Collective's Kāneʻohe location and online on Aug. 17.
Interview Highlights
On why it's important for people, Hawaiian or not, to understand the tradition
MALUHIA STATES: There's a lot to tackle with that one. If you're Hawaiian, I mean we grew up not knowing much, and I think a lot of us understand why, and the history has a lot to do with that. Yeah, I guess some words that come to mind are things like respect and being knowledgeable, not being ignorant about things. You know, a lot of issues arise amongst kānaka and non-kānaka because of just the ignorance of not knowing, especially when we talk about culture, because we understand the Western culture as Hawaiians really well. It's the Western culture that doesn't understand us very well. And I think another thing that I'll talk about in my workshop is reverence. There's really no like — people don't hold things sacred anymore. And when names have always been talked about in my family, this is a sacred practice, and your name is something that we value and we cherish, and that's not something we could say for the Western world, right. I think we've all heard of stories where, "Oh, how did you get your name?" "I don't know. My dad was reading the newspaper, and this guy's name was Jason. He thought he liked it." There you go. You know, "Dad's George III because three generations ago, great, great grandpa, or whatever, was George." So there you go. You know, there's not too much thought that goes into it, and the name is just something we call you, and that's about it. And I don't think anybody wants to be ignorant or pride themselves on being ignorant, so I'd assume that people would want to know.
On why there is not a lot of public information about naming tradition
STATES: There's probably not a lot of information because it's a sacred practice. Hawaiians traditionally are a very spiritual people, you know, and so there's a lot of reverence that is called into play with anything spiritual, and names are often received through that lens. So I think, although there is a very rich culture behind giving names, I don't think it was something that many of them would have talked about openly. And also in some of the kūpuna I've talked to and people in my family, and there's at least one source that talks about Hawaiians being very protective of their names, and so sometimes they can only say part of their name, so that you wouldn't get their full name, so that people couldn't potentially take it or, you know, misuse it or change it and give it to somebody else, if that makes sense.
On a "right way" to go about bestowing a Hawaiian name
STATES: I'm not sure I would say that there's just a one way or just the right way. It's a lot more difficult today, I would say, to get a name that's grammatically sound, based in a Hawaiian perspective, or has cultural nuance to it, just because of the lack of knowledge about the language itself — that makes it really difficult. In fact, I've had experiences over time where people will be like, "Here's the name I was given, is this okay? Or what do you think about that?" Some of them are blatantly grammatically unsound, which you wouldn't find among native speakers. It's not something that happens. That's a result of we're a people that had our culture and our language oppressed. And so we're digging in dictionaries, and kind of think this is how it might go, but we're not sure. The right way, I think a lot of people nowadays are kind of pulling multiple parties on board to get a name, kind of to just because not everybody can speak the language, or not at all. So everybody jumps on with the knowledge that they have, or they use the dictionary heavily, and then you guys all work together to figure it out. That is definitely a way that most people are probably doing it, most Hawaiians, a lot of dictionary reliance, a lot of dictionary knowledge. The reason that that's problematic, though, is the dictionary, if we're talking about Mary Kawena Pukui's dictionary, that big one, the dictionary, it doesn't always elaborate or distinguish what terms. So if you look up a word like smell, there's dozens and dozens and dozens of words, literally, if you go look at it. So some people kind of chalked it up to these are all synonymous, I can just pick any one that I want. But that's not how it works. And so there's been some funny names that come up that way because they're just not sure.
His suggestions for families who want Hawaiian names
STATES: My suggestions are learn Hawaiian, and then when you are competent enough, then you could give a name that would make sense, at the very least. Learning Hawaiian also outside of just, you know, organization and the choice of words, you'll learn, hopefully, some terms have negative connotations, and you don't want to put that on a child, or some of them are really heavy to bear, and we also don't put that on them... The suggestion of learning Hawaiian is one I push really hard for Hawaiians. Learn it. Take time to learn it. If you're not going to, then find a family member or a friend that can help you, somebody who's competent in the language. The only drawback on that one is if you don't know the language, you can't know if they're competent or not, and then the other option would be to come to me, somebody like me.
This story aired on The Conversation on Aug. 13, 2024. The Conversation airs weekdays at 11 a.m. on HPR-1.
