You can use this timeline chart to access the ruling kings and queen entries.






The list below is incomplete,
so many noteable Ali‘i are not listed, but this list will continue to expand.

Go to the English to Hawaiian Directory for the Ali‘i Category

 
Alexander Liholiho. Kamehameha IV, fourth ruling king of the Kingdom of Hawai‘i. Glowing. Liholiho means "glowing." Alexander Liholiho ruled for about 8 years and 11 months from 1855 to 1863. A year after assuming the throne, he took Emma Rooke as his queen. She is usually refered to as Queen Emma. There is a very good, short biography of Alexander Liholiho at hawaii.gov.
   For the glossary entry, see Alexander Liholiho.

 
Ka‘ahumanu. place name. The bird [feather] cloak. A street in Honolulu.
   For the glossary entry, see Ka‘ahumanu.

Ka‘ahumanu. queen, favorite wife of Kamehameha I, first kuhina nui. The bird [feather] cloak. Ka (the) + ‘ahu (cloak) + manu (bird) = the bird [feather] cloak. She was the favorite wife of Kamehameha I. Ka‘ahumanu created the office of kuhina nui after the death of Kamehameha the Great in 1819. She was kuhina nui during the reign of Kamehameha II from 1819 to 1824 and during the reign of Kamehameha III from 1824 until her death in 1832. With Kamehameha II, she instigated the breaking of the ancient kapu system. There is a very good, short biography of Ka‘ahumanu at hawaii.gov.
   For the glossary entry, see Ka‘ahumanu.

 
Ka‘iulani. place name. The royal sacred height. The name of a Hotel and an avenue in Waikīkī named for the Princess.
   For the glossary entry, see Ka‘iulani.

Ka‘iulani. heir to the throne (crown princess). The royal sacred height. Ka (the) + ‘iu (sacred height) + lani (royal) = the royal sacred height. If you look-up ‘iu in the PE dictionary, it says that Ka‘iulani means "the royal sacred one."
   For the glossary entry, see Ka‘iulani.

 
Kalākaua. place name. The day [of] battle. An avenue that runs through Waikīkī and the main thoroughfare of Waikīkī.
   For the glossary entry, see Kalākaua.

Kalākaua. the seventh reigning monarch. The day [of] battle. Literally "the (ka) day (lā) [of] battle (kaua)." The last king and the second to last reigning monarch of the Hawaiian Kingdom. The picture above shows a painting of King David Kalākaua.
   For the glossary entry, see Kalākaua.

How to pronounce Kalākaua: kuh––KAU–[w]ah
The two capitalized syllables in the pronunciation shown above are stressed and the second syllable is longer because of the kahakō as indicted by the stretched out AH. The third syllable KAU rhymes with how and cow. Also there is a w-glide.

 
Kalaniana‘ole. place name. The royal chief without measure. A highway on O‘ahu.
   For the glossary entry, see Kalaniana‘ole.

Kalaniana‘ole. a Hawaiian prince. The royal chief without measure. Ka (the) + lani (royal chief) + ana (measure) + ‘ole (without) = the royal chief without measure. If you look-up lani (royal chief) in the PE dictionary, it says that Kalaniana‘ole means "the incomparably exalted one." He become a delegate to the United States Congress representing the Territory of Hawai‘i.

How to pronounce Kalaniana‘ole: kuh–LAH–nee–[Y]AH–nuh–OH–lay
The pronunciation of Kalaniana‘ole is fairly straight forward, but it is sort of long. All the capitalized syllables in the pronunciation shown above are stressed. For this name every other syllable is stressed after the first syllable and there is a y-glide after the word lani that is attached to the first syllable of the word ana.
   For the glossary entry, see Kalaniana‘ole.

 
Kamāmalu. place name. The protector. A short avenue and a State office building at the corner of Richards street and South King street.
   For the glossary entry, see Kamāmalu.

Kamāmalu. fifth kuhina nui. The protector. Ka (the) + māmalu (protector). She was daughter of Kīna‘u and Mataio Kekūanaō‘a and was the highest ranking chiefess of the time, but today she is she is not as well known because she was often overshadowed by her female contemporaries such as Lili‘uokalani and Queen Emma. As kuhina nui, she was also call Ka‘ahumanu IV. She was kuhina nui for about 7 years and 11 months from 1855 to 1863. There is a very good, short biography of Kamāmalu at hawaii.gov.
   For the glossary entry, see Kamāmalu.

 
Kamehameha. royal chief, king who united the Hawaiian Islands into the Kingdom of Hawaii. The lonely one. Ka (the...one being spoken of) + mehameha (lonely) = the lonely one. He was also known as Kamehameha the Great. There is a very good, short biography of Kamehameha at hawaii.gov.
   For the glossary entry, see Kamehameha.

Kamehameha. place name. The lonely one. A highway on the island of O‘ahu named of the royal chief that united the Hawaiian Islands and created the Hawaiian Kingdom.
   For the glossary entry, see Kamehameha.

Kamehameha. noun. The Kamehameha butterfly. One of two species of butterfly that is native to Hawai‘i. The Kamehameha butterfly is shown in the picture above.
   For the glossary entry, see Kamehameha.

 
Kapi‘olani. place name. The arch [of] heaven. A boulevard and a county regional park on O‘ahu between Diamond Head and the heart of Waikīkī.
   For the glossary entry, see Kapi‘olani.

Kapi‘olani. queen consort. The arch [of] heaven. Ka (the) + pi‘o (arch) + lani (heaven) = the arch [of] heaven. If you look-up pi‘o in the PE dictionary, it says that Kapi‘olani means "the heavenly arch." The arch of heaven is a reference to rainbows. The picture above shows Kapi‘olani, wife of King David Kalākaua. Her motto was Kūlia i ka nu‘u.
   For the glossary entry, see Kapi‘olani.

 
Kauikeaouli. Kamehameha III, third ruling king of the Kingdom of Hawai‘i. Place (put) in the dark clouds. Kau (place(put)) + i (in) + ke (the) + ao (cloud) + uli (any dark color, the short version of uliuli) = place in the dark clouds. Keaikeaouli was the longest reigning king. He reigned for about 29 and one half years from 1824 to 1854. He became king at the age of 11. Real administrative power resided with the regent Ka‘ahumanu who was the first kahina nui. Ka‘ahumanu died in 1832 and Kauikeaouli's half-sister, Elizabeth Kīna‘u became the second kuhina nui. In 1833, the regency of kuhina nui was changed from a regent to a prime minister or premier. Under Kauikeaouli, Hawai‘i evolved from an absolute monarchy to a constitutional monarchy with the signing of the first constitution of the Kingdom of Hawai‘i called the 1840 Constitution and later he signed a 1852 Constitution. He also spoke the phrase that would become the motto of the Kingdom and later, the motto of the State of Hawai‘i; "Ua mau ke ea o ka ‘āina ika pono." There is a very good, short biography of Kauikeaouli at hawaii.gov.
   For the glossary entry, see Kauikeaouli.

 
Kekāuluohi. place name. The vine growing [with] shoots. A State government building on the ‘Iolani Palace grounds that houses the Archives of Hawai‘i.
   For the glossary entry, see Kekāuluohi.

Kekāuluohi. third kuhina nui. The vine growing [with] shoots. Ke (the) + kā (vine) ulu (growing) + ohi (shoots) = the vine growing [with] shoots. She was the third kuhina nui and served from 1839 to 1845 for about 5 years and 2 months. As kuhina nui she was also called Ka‘ahumanu III. She was also the mother of Lunaliho the sixth reigning king of the Kingdom of Hawai‘i. There is a very good, short biography of Kekāuluohi at hawaii.gov.
   For the glossary entry, see Kekāuluohi.

 
Keoniana. place name. John Young. The name of a street in Waikīkī named for the second John Young. The street is spelled without a space between Keoni and Ana.
   For the glossary entry, see Keoni Ana.

Keoni Ana. kuhina nui, minister of foreign relations John Young. Keoni Ana is transliterated from the English name John Young and was the Hawaiian name of John Young II. John Young II was the kuhina nui under Kamehameha III and the minister of foreign relations under Kamehameha IV. There is a very good, short biography of Keoni Ana at hawaii.gov.
   For the glossary entry, see Keoni Ana.

 
Kīna‘u. place name. Flaw. A street in Honolulu and a State office building.
   For the glossary entry, see Kīna‘u.

Kīna‘u. second kuhina nui. Flaw. She was a half-sister of Kauikeaouli and was made kuhina nui by him after Ka‘ahumanu died in 1832. As kuhina nui, she was also called Ka‘ahumanu II. Kīna‘u was married to Mataio Kekūanaō‘a and they had three notable children; Kamehameha IV, Kamehameha V and Victoria Kamāmalu. There is a very good, short biography of Kīna‘u at hawaii.gov.

How to pronounce Kīna‘u: –NAH–oo
Kīna‘u is often mispronounced KEE–NAU as a two syllable word because the ‘okina is disregarded. It is a three syllable word. The capitalized syllables in the pronunciation shown above are stressed and the first syllable is longer because of the kahakō as indicted by the stretched out EE.
   For the glossary entry, see Kīna‘u.

 
Liholiho. Kamehameha II, second ruling king of the Kingdom of Hawai‘i. Glowing. His name Liholiho (glowing) is short for his name Kalaninuikualiholihoikekapu (Ka-lani-nui-kua-liholiho-i-ke-kapu) which means "the great chief with the burning back taboo." He was king for 5 years and 55 days from 1819 to 1824 and his role as king was largely ceremonial. Real administrative power was vested in Queen Ka‘ahumanu who held the newly created position of kuhina nui which initially was a regency, but in 1833 under Kauikeaouli the regency was ended and the office of kuhina nui changed to an office of primer minister or premier. Perhaps the most significant event of his reign was when he purposefully broke the ʻai kapu (eating taboo) which forbid men and women from eating together. By eating wth Ka‘ahumanu, the kapu system was ended. Liholiho died of measels in London, England in 1824. There is a very good, short biography of Liholiho at hawaii.gov.
   For the glossary entry, see Liholiho.

   
Likelike. place name. Similar. The name of a highway that runs over the Ko‘olau mountains from Honolulu to Kāne‘ohe, and vice versa, named for Princess Miriam Likelike.
   For the glossary entry, see Likelike.

Likelike. princess. Similar. Princess Miriam Likelike (1851-1887) was a sibling of the last reigning king, King David Kalākaua and the last reigning monarch, Queen Lydia Lili‘uokalani. She married Scottish businessman Archibald Scott Cleghorn and was the mother of Princess Ka‘iulani. The name Likelike is a reduplication of the word like and in this case, means similar.
   For the glossary entry, see Likelike.

How to pronounce Likelike: LEE–kay–LEE–kay
Do not pronounce this name so that it rhymes with Mike or bike.

 
Lili‘uokalani. last reigning monarch of the Kingdom of Hawai‘i. Smarting of the high born one. Lili‘u (smarting) + o (of) + ka (the one) + lani (high born) = smarting of the high born one. She was the only ruling monarch to be a Queen and was the last ruling monarch of the Kingdom of Hawai‘i. She reigned for a little under two years from 1891 to 1893 before she was deposed and the Kingdom was abolished.
   For the glossary entry, see Lili‘uokalani.

How to pronounce Lili‘uokalani: lee–LEE–oo–[w]oh–kuh–LAH–nee
The two capitalized syllables in the pronunciation shown above are stressed and there is a w-glide.

 
Lot Kapuāiwa. Kamehameha V, fifth king of the Kingdom of Hawai‘i. Mysterious taboo. Kapu (taboo) + āiwa (mysterious) = mysterious taboo. He was king, but he is sometimes referred to as Prince Lot. He reigned for about 9 years from 1863 to 1872. There is a very good, short biography of Lot Kapuāiwa at hawaii.gov.
   For the glossary entry, see Lot Kapuāiwa.

 
Lunalilo. sixth king of the Kingdom of Hawai‘i. Very high (of royalty). Lunalilo reigned for one year and 26 days, the shortest reign of the eight reigning monarchs.
   For the glossary entry, see Lunalilo.

 
Mataio Kekūanaō‘a. place name. Mathew (Mataio) the standing projections. A state government building built in 1925 which is also called the Territorial Building.
   For the glossary entry, see Mataio Kekūanaō‘a.

Mataio Kekūanaō‘a. sixth and last kuhina nui, governor of O‘ahu. Mathew (Mataio) the standing projections. Ke (the) + kū (standing) + anaō‘a (projections) = the standing projections. He was the governor of O‘ahu in the 1840s and served as kuhina nui for about 8 months before the office was abolished. He was married to Kīna‘u and they had three notable children; Kamehameha IV, Kamehameha V and Victoria Kamāmalu. There is a very good, short biography of Mataio Kekūanāo‘a at hawaii.gov. He sold his Honolulu house built in 1844 to Kamehameha III in 1845 when Kamehameha III moved the capital from Lāhainā to Honolulu. The house was the biggest and most stately building in Hawai‘i and it become the palace (hale ali‘i) in Honolulu.
   For the glossary entry, see Mataio Kekūanaō‘a.

English to Hawaiian Directory

flaw. See Kīna‘u.
glowing. See Alexander Liholiho / Liholiho.
John Young (the second). See Keoni Ana.
mysterious taboo. See Lot Kapuāiwa.
place in the dark clouds. See Kauikeaouli.
smarting of the high born one. See Lili‘uokalani.
the arch [of] heaven. See Kapi‘olani.
the bird [feather] cloak. See Ka‘ahumanu.
the day [of] battle. See Kalākaua.
the heavenly arch. See Kapi‘olani.
the incomparably exalted one. See Kalaniana‘ole.
the lonely one. See Kamehameha.
the protector. See Kamāmalu.
the royal chief without measure. See Kalaniana‘ole.
the royal sacred height. See Ka‘iulani.
the standing projections. See Mataio Kekūanaō‘a.
the vine growing [with] shoots. See Kekāuluohi.
very high. See Lunalilo.

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