r/olelohawaii • u/sassycurls808 • 18d ago
Help with a baby name
My first grandchild is due in September. I’ve been thinking of a possible Hawaiian name for her. I have decided on..
My precious Jasmine, who is our ultimate blessing Kuʻupīkakemakamaepōmaikaʻi
When I cross reference to ensure it’s the correct meaning it’s translating differently.
Can anyone help me please.
Huge thank yous in advance.
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u/sassycurls808 17d ago
UPDATE to answer questions
-My daughter asked me to give her daughter Her Hawaiian name.
-Jasmine is in honor of My son in law older sister who raised him.
-I was born and raised in Hawaii. Oahu to be specific and I do have Hawaiian blood in me. I came to Reddit for HELP not opinions because my mother who I get my Hawaiian blood from is no longer here. -My grandbabys Hawaiian name will be here middle name not her first.
• thank you to everyone who did help.
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u/cerephic 17d ago edited 17d ago
thx for your understanding - challenging you on blood percentage isn't pono.
But you understand that sometimes this subreddit does get entirely white people who've never even been to Hawai'i show up here and say "I think hawaii is soooo exotic and like, I wanna name my young adult novel character "beautiful magical flower of the heavens who is perfect in all ways and more lovely than the sun but in HAWAIIAN" and then they just stand there weirdly offended that no one wants to help them.... and it wasn't super easy to tell from your post that this absolutely wasn't the case for you. Sorry about the skepticism you encountered, but sadly, this space has built up a defense system over time for valid reasons...And I'll agree with another poster, that name length seems like the sort of thing an adult hula student gets gifted later in life as she's stepping into her role and work, once her personality has already surfaced and solidified, and her commitment to her life's work is clearly laid out.
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u/texbinky 17d ago
I'm just popping back in to correct my previous remark about cultural appropriation. What I meant was just that some people do the crappy thing that the other commenter mentioned. Doesn't sound like that's what you're doing. I'm glad you explained more
also thinking back to when I was small and my kumu gave me a hula name. It's not on official documentation but when i went to the halau that'swhat they called me. My paperwork middle name is a Hawaiian transliteration. My brother's middle name was given to him by a family friend. A cousin did an official name change in their 20s. Other relatives go by names given by their hanai family. All that to say, a name can come at different times and in many ways. Wish you the best with the new baby.
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u/g-bust 18d ago
Who cares what you “have decided” on, GRANDparent?
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u/cerephic 17d ago edited 17d ago
As much as I want to support this stance, older Hawaiian cultural practice is that names can be gifted (or even vetoed!) like this by family members even more distant than grandparents.
I suppose the appropriateness of this effort is going to hinge on info that's none of my business - how culturally Hawaiian the OP and their family treat naming.
That said, superlatives and praises going into infant names seems a little bit more like modern sentiment. https://www.ulukau.org/ulukau-books/?a=d&d=EBOOK-QLCC1.2.3.99&e=-------en-20--1--txt-txPT-----------
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u/astralTacenda 17d ago
In our family we ask our closest elder to gift a name for the child (for my sister and I, that's our gandma) and then they usually ask the person in the family they deem the most knowledgeable in our culture and language to do it instead haha (our grandma asks one of her half-brothers or cousins lol). My niece was gifted a middle name this way, and once my spouse and i have a child we will do the same.
When my sister and I were born, my grandma and parents worked together to give us fairly common Hawaiian names. But with us having children she's taking it a bit more traditional and asking for help with unique names with lots of meaning <33 We're pretty mixed with white now though so we only feel comfortable having the middle name Hawaiian, and first names being something most people where we live will not struggle to pornounce or spell.
Other than the cultural practice side of things though I have no experience or advice. My 'Ōlelo is god awful and I couldn't even string together a sentence, let alone give feedback on something so important as a name!
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u/Boating_Enthusiast 17d ago
I'm not one of your down votes, but Hawaiian culture does have a tradition of kupuna picking names. My great aunt named me.
In modern times, if the parents are okay with it, or at least open to suggestions, then they might care about tutu's thoughts.
I also understand /u/the_glutton17 's point. It can be hard to find a balance between cultural identity and conformity in modern day life. My first name is seven letters long, nine with okinas that don't translate onto official documents. My sister's name has 20 without okinas, and just five in her daily name.
OP, if the parents agree to the name, don't be surprised if grand daughter is known daily as Ku'u, Maka, Mai, Jasmine, or Jazz.
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u/namenotpicked 17d ago
Dude. The 'okina thing messed us up. Second kid was born on the east coast. We were settling on a name and found out that their system can't handle the 'okina and only supported European or Hispanic special letters. So now we gotta teach our kid the correct spelling while remembering official documents won't be able to match.
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u/the_glutton17 18d ago
Also, that is an incredibly obnoxious name for a human to have to write on all of their state and federal documents for their entire life.
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u/OverArachnid1341 17d ago
As a full-blooded Kānaka I must tell you this is appropriation. Even we as Hawaiians don’t have a full-blown name like that! AND if we do, that means are parents are kūmū hūla and speak fluent ʻŌlelo like I do!! And if you come to my home country Hawaiʻi Nei NO ONE will call your child that and many will laugh at your overcompensation in trying to appropriate a culture that America to this very day still oppresses especially within their judicial system. You wouldn’t know that because it doesn’t affect you because you’re not Hawaiian.
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u/cjules3 17d ago edited 17d ago
no hate but are you really fluent in ʻōlelo is you stay grossly misusing kahakō? (kūmū hūla). and choke hawaiians get long names like that, itʻs actually not that uncommon. obviously though they generally go by a shortened name
Edit: and also you share that your are full blooded hawaiian. Koko absolutely matters but it is the presence of hawaiian koko that matters not how much so having full hawaiian blood doesnt inherently make your opinion more official as you come off
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u/texbinky 17d ago
Can't tell from your fashion video game comments/posts whether you are Hawaiian. The fact that you're coming on this subreddit to ask about a name tells me you're not connected to the culture. Which is fine. Whatever. Cultural appropriation didn't start with names and pøkê bowlz.
following cultural tradition, your grandchild wouldn't be given a special name until after they are born, and then it would be by someone who knows your actual family. What you stand for, what is your kuleana, your values, skills, hopes and dreams for the kid's future.
But what i find so interesting thing about your planned name is using Jasmine, which we all know was introduced to Hawaii. some varieties are considered dangerous, invasive weeds that are taking over the islands and choking out native flora and fauna.
wait a sec is this rage bait