A Call to the Public: Share your thoughts on Hawaiian street names

The Hawaiʻi Department of Transportation has a master list of all street names and destinations on the state highways system that corrects misspellings and includes the Hawaiian diacritical markings ʻokina (glottal stop) and kahakō (macron).

The Department is asking for public feedback on the state master list throughout this year.  

Click here to view a list of all of street names on HDOT’s state highway system. 

“February is Mahina ʻŌlelo Hawaiʻi, or Hawaiian language month, which inspired us to seek more public feedback to our state street name master list. Using kahakō and ʻokina in Hawaiian street names is a small but lasting way for the department to support the use and understanding of ʻŌlelo Hawaiʻi,” said HDOT Director Ed Sniffen.

The streets and destinations in the state highways system include all of the major roadways and directly connecting streets on all islands. Of the nearly 2,000 streets under the State Department of Transportation’s jurisdiction, over half required the addition of Hawaiian diacritical markings. Use of kahakō and ʻokina can drastically change the meaning of a word.

Take Moi Road on Kauaʻi. Spelled moi, it refers to the prized threadfin fish, but spelled mōʻī, it means ruler. Aheahe Street on Kauaʻi could be interpreted four ways – Aheahe (gentle), Āhēāhē (exclaiming), ʻAhēʻahē (coughing), or ʻĀhēʻāhē (a wild taro variety found on Kauaʻi).

“You can think of the ʻokina and kahakō as training wheels,” said Director Sniffen. “Fluent speakers may not need the clues that ʻokina and kahakō provide to understand how to read a word that could be pronounced multiple ways. But for the vast majority of us who are not expert ʻŌlelo Hawaiʻi speakers, seeing words written with ʻokina and kahakō instructs us on proper pronunciation and meaning. E ʻōlelo Hawaiʻi kākou.”

Hawaiʻi’s street names memorialize ancient stories, events and people significant to that area, as well as to traditional land division names. The kamaʻāina of each community know their area’s moʻolelo and natural weather patterns and are therefore the best ones to interpret the proper spelling and meaning of their community’s street names. Anyone can participate by looking up the possible meanings of their street name at wehewehe.org and providing feedback at https://highways.hidot.hawaii.gov/stories/s/Olelo-Hawaii-State-Street-Names/7tn4-jrv6.

HDOT’s effort is focused on the 2,000 state highways and connecting streets, but it will share feedback received on any county street with the appropriate county. HDOT will replace the impacted street signs over time as it does other repairs in the area.

In addition to adding ʻokina and kahakō to street names on every island, the department also found eight state streets that appear to be misspelled. On Maui, Heaaula Street in Haʻikū, Maui is possibly a misspelling of Keaʻaʻula Street. The Hawaiian Place Names database on Ulukau.org reveals records of Heaaula ahupuaʻa in Haʻikū were misspellings of Keaʻaʻula ahupuaʻa, meaning the red root. On Hawaiʻi Island, Akalakuahini Road in Waimea should likely be spelled ʻĀkalakuahiwi Road for the mountain raspberries, and Opelo Road in Waimea may be a misspelling of ʻŌpelu Road for the cherished small ʻōpelu fish. Noname Place in Kapaʻau should be Palai Place to align with county usage and take the opportunity to honor a native fern of the area.

On Oʻahu, two streets in Waiʻanae appear to be misspellings of historic places in the district. Piliokahi Avenue is possibly a misspelling of Piliokahe, as it is located in the historic place of Piliokahe. The moʻolelo of Piliokahe tells of the gods Kāne and Kanaloa throwing a stone to determine district boundaries between the moku of ʻEwa and Waiʻanae. The stone was lost but later found near Kahe Point in Waiʻanae, and henceforth the area was known as Pili-o-Kahe, clinging to Kahe. Interestingly, there is also Piliokahe Way and Piliokahe Place in ʻEwa Beach, hinting at a possible spot from which they could have thrown the stone.

Another historic place in Waiʻanae is Puʻu Heleakalā, a prominent hilltop visible from Farrington Highway that separates the valleys of Nānākuli and Lualualei. Haleakala Avenue starts directly makai of Puʻu Heleakalā and runs the length of the ridge that leads to Puʻu Heleakalā. Haleakala Avenue is possibly a mispelling of Heleakalā, meaning snared by the sun as the hill blocks the rays of the setting sun.

In Hālawa on Oʻahu, Ulune Street has no easily discernible meaning and is possibly a misspelling of Uluna, meaning a pillow that was traditionally made of made plaited hala leaves filled with fibers. Community input on the historic presence of hala trees or traditional hale (houses) in the area may provide insight on whether the likely intent of the street name was a traditional pillow.

In Kailua on Oʻahu, Ilimalia Loop provides an example of the importance of studying neighboring street names to determine appropriate spelling and meaning. At first glance, one would read Ilimalia Loop as ʻIlima-lia, which could mean an ʻilima plant covered in louse or ʻuku eggs; a strange choice for a street name. Looking at the surrounding streets, they all start with Ili, including ʻIlikala (surgeonfish skin used for making knee drums), ʻIlimanō (shark skin used for making pahu drums), ʻIliʻāina (surface of the earth), and ʻIlikai (surface of the ocean). If we assume Ilimalia is to be read with ʻIli (skin/surface) at the start, none of the various spellings of malia make sense with ʻili, and prompt doubt over the correct spelling. If the order of two letters are switched from malia to maila, ʻIlimāʻila could either mean light brown skin or clear surface of the ocean, both appropriate names for this Kailua street near the ocean.   

The department will do additional outreach to the property owners on the eight streets that may be misspelled.   

To determine the correct spellings, the Department of Transportation used the “Hawaiian Dictionary,” by Mary Kawena Pukui and Samuel Elbert, “Place Names of Hawaii,” by Pukui, Elbert and Esther Moʻokini, “Hawaiʻi Place Names: Shores, Beaches and Surf Sites,” by John Clark, OHA’s Kipuka Database which links to source documents from the Māhele, Ulukau.Org Hawaiian Place Names database, Ka Leo O Ka Uluau Podcast “Inoa Matters” series for Hawaiʻi Island place names, as well as online resources.

Do you know of a misspelled street name? Do you have insight on the proper diacritical markings and meaning of a street? Give your input at https://highways.hidot.hawaii.gov/stories/s/Olelo-Hawaii-State-Street-Names/7tn4-jrv6.