How popular is the baby name Lehua in the United States right now? How popular was it historically? Use the popularity graph and data table below to find out! Plus, see all the blog posts that mention the name Lehua.

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Popularity of the baby name Lehua


Posts that mention the name Lehua

The Judd family of Hawaii

The Judd family of Hawaii on the 1940 U.S. Census
The Judd family on the 1940 U.S. Census

Hawaiian couple Raymond and Anna Judd had at least 8 children during the 1920s and 1930s.

On the 1940 U.S. Census, their children are listed as Raymond Jr., Louise, James, Maxwell, Lydia, Lehua, Reginald, and Nayland.

But their full names were really…

  • Raymond Murray Laniolaikapikoihiihilauakea (b. 1922)
  • Louise Julia Kalaninuiahilepalepa (b. 1923)
  • James Haulukaokeahienaena (b. 1924)
  • Maxwell Winfred Kuuleimamoulukapaehuokalani (b. 1927)
  • Lydia Anna Haleakala (b. 1928)
  • Marvelle Pauline Kaualililehua “Lehua” (b. 1930)
  • Reginald Wilhelm Kananinoheaokuuhomeopuukaimanaalohilohinokeaweaweulamakaokalani (b. 1936)
  • Nayland Clayton Kaleinaonalani (b. 1938)

At least two of these names ended up making the news.

The one that popped up in papers worldwide was Reginald’s Hawaiian name, which had 63 letters and was said to mean “the beautiful aroma of my home at sparkling diamond hill is carried to the eyes of heaven.” I don’t know how accurate this definition is, but I could find some of the corresponding Hawaiian words — like pu’u (meaning “hill”), kaimana (“diamond”), ‘alohilohi (“sparkling”), and maka (“eyes”) — in the name.

Clipping form the Daily Examiner in Australia (Oct. 12, 1936).
Daily Examiner (Australia), 1936

A decade earlier, Maxwell’s Hawaiian name was also in the news — at least locally.

Clipping from the Honolulu Advertiser (Jan. 12, 1927).
Honolulu Advertiser, 1927

I couldn’t find a translation of Maxwell’s Hawaiian name, or translations for any of the other Hawaiian names. (In fact, I’m not even 100% sure about the spellings of those names.) Regardless, here are some observations…

  • Raymond’s Hawaiian name, Laniolaikapikoihiihilauakea, seems to refer to the ‘ihi’ihilauakea — a fern endemic to Hawaii.
  • James’s Hawaiian name, Haulukaokeahienaena, seems to refer to a raging fire: ke (“the”), ahi (“fire”), ‘ena’ena (“glowing, red-hot, raging”).
  • Lydia’s Hawaiian name, Haleakala, was the middle name of her grandmother (Louise Haleakala, b. 1879) and the first name of her great-grandmother (Haleaka, b. 1847). The word means “house of the sun” and refers to the volcano on Maui.
  • Marvelle’s nickname, Lehua, from her Hawaiian name Kaualililehua, refers to the Lehua plant.

What are your thoughts on these names?

Sources:

The Hawaiian name Lilikoi

We talked about passion flowers yesterday, so today let’s look at passion fruit — specifically, the Hawaiian word for passion fruit, liliko’i. Why? Because Lilikoi started popping up in the SSA’s baby name data in 2006, and it’s been in the data consistently over the last few years:

  • 2018: 5 baby girls named Lilikoi
  • 2017: 9 baby girls named Lilikoi
  • 2016: 8 baby girls named Lilikoi
  • 2015: 5 baby girls named Lilikoi
  • 2014: unlisted

As it happens, the fruit isn’t native to Hawaii. The purple variety of passion fruit, originally from South America, came to Hawaii via Australia in 1880. The seeds were planted on Maui at a place called Liliko’i, and the fruit itself eventually became known by that name. The yellow variety — which is the most common type in Hawaii these days — didn’t arrive until 1923.

I tried to track down the etymology of the place name Liliko’i, but didn’t have any luck.

What do you think of the baby name Lilikoi? Do you like it more or less than the name Lehua?

Source: Liliko’i – Wehewehe Wikiwiki, Hawaii’s favorite flavor – Lilikoi

P.S. Did you know that Lilikoi can be typed entirely with the right hand on a standard Qwerty keyboard? Here are some other one-handed baby names…

Hawaiian nature name: Lehua

Picture of a Lehua plant in Hawaii taken by Nancy.
Lehua plant in Hawaii

The Hawaiian name Lehua (pronounced leh-HOO-ah) refers to the showy flower of the ‘ohi’a lehua plant, Metrosideros polymorpha. The flower’s petals are very small, but its stamens are long and typically bright red.

The plant is endemic to the Hawaiian islands and has great cultural significance among Hawaiians. The word lehua refers not just to the flower, for instance, but also (figuratively) to various types of people: “warrior, beloved friend or relative, sweetheart, expert.” The plant even has its own creation myth: the goddess Pele created the plant by transforming human lovers Ohia and Lehua into the tree and the blossom, respectively.

This cultural importance no doubt stems from the plant’s ecological importance. The ‘ohi’a lehua is a keystone species in Hawaii that’s often the first to colonize barren lava. The adaptations that allow for this include: year-round flowering, lightweight seeds, roots adept at growing vertically (i.e., in cracks and fissures), and the plant’s ability to close its stomata when volcanic gases are around — to hold its breath when the air turns toxic, in other words.

So Lehua, like other flower names, refers to an object of beauty…but this particular object of beauty is also a genuine symbol of concepts like resilience and adaptation. Which makes Lehua rather unique among flower names, I think.

What are your thoughts on the name Lehua?

(The photo is of a young ‘ohi’a lehua inside the Kilauea Iki pit crater, which my husband and I visited a few years ago on a trip to Hawaii. That particular lava flow happened in 1959.)

Sources:

Where did the baby name Gordean come from in 1962?

Beauty queen Gordean Leilehua Lee
Gordean Leilehua Lee

The intriguing name Gordean appeared in the U.S. baby name data just once, in the early 1960s:

  • 1964: unlisted
  • 1963: unlisted
  • 1962: 6 baby girls named Gordean [debut]
    • 5 born in Hawaii
  • 1961: unlisted
  • 1960: unlisted

Where did this one come from?

Gordean Leilehua Lee, who was crowned Miss Hawaii 1959. She didn’t win the Miss America 1960 pageant (held in mid-1959, a few weeks after Hawaii was granted statehood), but she did earn the title of Miss Congeniality.

Before winning Miss Hawaii, she was a student at the University of Hawaii by day and a hula dancer at The Royal Hawaiian Hotel by night. She performed under the name “Lehua.”

I’m not sure why the name debuted in 1962 as opposed to ’59 or ’60. Perhaps in 1962 she was being featured locally (like at a festival or some other event) and I just haven’t come across evidence of it yet.

But I do know that her parents were Gordon and Josephine, so it would be logical to assume that her unique first name (pronounced gor-deen) is a combination of her parents’ names.

Gordean went on to become a hula teacher and lei maker. These days she owns/operates Bailey Farms Maui.

Sources:

Image: Clipping from the San Bernardino Sun (9 Sept. 1959)

[Latest update: Jan. 2022]