The Fascinating Origins Behind 7 Famous Hawaiian Place Names

These names offer a window into the history of these areas.

*This story was originally published on Jan. 25, 2020, and updated in October 2025.

 

What’s in an outdoor name?

Many people know the story of how Diamond Head got its English-language name—19th-century British sailors initially mistook calcite crystals on its slopes for the precious stone. The Oʻahu volcanic crater’s original name, however, was Lēʻahi, bestowed by Hawaiians who thought the crater’s shape resembled the dorsal fin of a tuna. (Diamond Head also claims the Hawaiian name Kaimanahila, or “diamond hill.”) Knowing the meaning of place names in Hawaiʻi, where history and mythology often intertwine, adds depth and perspective to our travels here.

“Every Hawaiian place name has a moʻolelo, or backstory, that explains why the place was called what it’s called,” says John R.K. Clark, author of multiple Hawaiʻi outdoor books. “Place names capture the history and the culture of the people who coined them. They help us to understand what life was like and what was important at the time they were given.”

In the spirit of that thought, seeking to add some cool knowledge to future outdoor journeys and, well, out of pure curiosity, we looked into the name origins of seven well-known Hawaiʻi places.

ʻĪao

Valley and rock formation, Maui

The word ʻīao, on its own, means “cloud supreme” in Hawaiian. The name may have originated with the verdant valley’s near-omnipresent cloud cover, largely provided by the equally emerald surrounding West Maui Mountains. The valley, now a 4,000-acre state park, is sacred and culturally significant. Remains of the highest Hawaiian aliʻi (royalty) are believed buried in secret places. On a ridge near the mouth of valley-coursing Iao Stream are two important heiau (temples), Halekiʻi and Pihana. ʻĪao was also the site of the Battle of Kepaniwai, during which the army of Maui chief Kalanikupule fell to the forces of King Kamehameha the Great in 1790, leading to the unification of the Hawaiian Islands. Iao Needle, the spire-like natural ridge rising 1,200 feet from the valley’s floor, was originally given the not-terribly-flattering name Kūkaʻemoku by early Hawaiians. Its meaning? Broken excreta.

Puʻu Pehe

Offshore rock formation, Lānaʻi

One of Lānaʻi’s most famous—and most photographed—natural landmarks, Puʻu Pehe, aka Sweetheart Rock, rises 80 feet from the offshore shallows between Hulopoʻe and Manele bays on the island’s south side. The Hawaiian name for this sea stack literally means “owl trap hill,” with some believing it was once home to a shrine for bird hunters. A more famous name origin story for Puʻu Pehe is rooted in Hawaiian legend, which tells of a beautiful Maui girl of similar name who was captured by a young warrior from Lānaʻi. Afraid of losing her, he brought Puʻu Pehe to the area’s cliffs and kept her hidden in a sea cave. One day, a storm arose on a day he’d left the cliffs. Huge waves devastated the cave and drowned his beloved. Stricken with grief, the warrior retrieved her body and carried it to the top of the steep rock formation for burial before leaping to his death in the ocean below.

Polihale

Beach, Kauaʻi

Some confusion exists about the name meaning of this remote beach on Kauaʻi’s west side. Polihale has been translated as hale (house) of po (which has multiple meanings, including “realm of the gods”)—the thought being that the beach’s north cliff faces were a leaping place for departing souls. Its more likely meaning, however, is its literal translation, “house bosom,” with the use of both words here representing a place of birth or a source of life. A legend about the beach tells of a pahapaha (“sea lettuce”) that grows in Polihale’s offshore waters and possesses a special quality: after being dried out, it can be revived to its original freshness when submerged in water. According to Hawaiian moʻolelo, the sea goddess Namaka gave the lettuce this rejuvenation quality and only Polihale pahapaha can do this. The story appears frequently in Kaua‘i mele (songs and chants), including the Hawaiian music standard “Pua Māmane.”

Waipiʻo

Valley, Hawaiʻi Island

Look at an aerial map of Waipiʻo and you’ll quickly notice the curve of the bay fronting the fertile valley and meandering Wailoa, Nanaue and Hiʻilawe streams snaking across its vast floor. Small wonder that the name of the massive valley, situated on Hawaiʻi Island’s northeastern Hāmākua coastline, means “curved water” in Hawaiian. One of several lush, isolated coastal valleys carved into long-extinct Kohala mountain, Waipiʻo is often called Valley of the Kings because of its long history as a place of residence for many Hawaiian aliʻi. The valley floor was also once the largest wetland kalo (taro) cultivation site on the island. Today, kalo is grown only in a small portion of the valley, mostly by farmers who commute from homes outside the valley.

Waiʻaleʻale

Mountain and extinct volcano, Kauaʻi

Its summit now designated by multiple modern scientific sources as one of the rainiest places on earth, Mount Waiʻaleʻale’s perpetual precipitation was recognized centuries before by Hawaiians who gave the volcano the name meaning “rippling or overflowing water.” (Waiʻaleʻale was actually first the name of a small lake on the summit.) The island-dominating shield volcano, rising 5,148 feet above sea level, has averaged more than 450 inches of rainfall annually since 1912, according to summit rain gauges. Limited access routes make reaching Waiʻaleʻale’s near-always rainy summit a challenge for botanists, surveyors and hardy hikers. The summit remains of a heiau, however, are testament that early Hawaiians made the climb at least annually, likely to present offerings to Kāne, one of their most exalted deities.

Puʻuloa/Wai Momi

Lagoon and estuary, Oʻahu

The Oʻahu natural lagoon now known as Pearl Harbor was given two names by early Hawaiians: Puʻuloa, or “long hill,” and “Wai Momi,” meaning “waters of pearl.” According to writer Michael Walther’s book, “Pearls of Pearl Harbor and the Islands of Hawaiʻi,” Hawaiians would harvest the lagoon’s abundance of oysters to eat and use their mother-of-pearl shells for fishhooks and adornments. It’s likely they didn’t realize the monetary value of the momi (pearls) inside, but European settlers in the 1770s did. When Kamehameha the Great learned the value of momi, he declared all of the lagoon’s oysters his own and made oyster gathering an act punishable by death. Harbor development in the 1840s choked Wai Momi with silt and debris, killing much of its oyster population by 1901.

Hālawa

Valley and waterfall, Molokaʻi

One of the largest of six coastal valleys on Molokaʻi’s north shore and the only one accessible by road, Hālawa’s name can be traced to two origins: its literal meaning and translation, “curved,” perhaps referring to its naturally twisting stream, and “ample taro stems,” shedding light on the agricultural history of the culturally significant amphitheater valley. Polynesian voyagers are believed to have settled in Hālawa as early as 650 A.D., drawn to its size (a half-mile wide and extending two miles inland from the ocean) and plentiful water. Hālawa ʻOhana Loi Kalo, a family of taro farmers who still reside in the valley, recounts that irrigated taro terraces here once numbered more than 1,500. The French naturalist Jules Remy, who visited Halawa in 1854, compared the valley and its loi kalo to Waipiʻo (“curved water,” remember?) on Hawaiʻi Island. Hālawa supplied most of the taro for Molokaʻi and parts of Maui well into the 1800s.

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Catherine Toth Fox is the former editor of HAWAIʻI Magazine and continues to contribute to the website and print publication.