Hawaiian3 syllablesBoys and girls
Meaning: a gift; a present, a reward.
Makana
| Origin | Hawaiian — makana, gift, present, reward, offering |
|---|---|
| Meaning | A gift, and also the act of giving one; the ordinary modern word, not a poetic one |
| Pronunciation | mah-KAH-nah, three even syllables with the stress in the middle |
| Popularity | Outside the current U.S. top 100; used for both sexes in Hawaiʻi, rare and slightly female-leaning elsewhere |
| Variants | None. Unlike most Hawaiian names it takes no article, so there is no Kamakana in general use |
| Nicknames | None standard. Maka is a different word — eye, face — rather than a short form |
| Place | Makana is also a peak above Hāʻena on Kauaʻi, the cliff used for the ʻoahi fire-throwing ceremony |
History & meaning
Makana is one of the plainer Hawaiian names: a single noun, no article welded to the front, none of the grammar that produces Keanu or Nākoa. It is simply the word for a gift, the one used for a present handed over at a birthday. What sits behind it is a culture with more than one word for giving, and the distinctions matter. A makana passes between people. A hoʻokupu is an offering — carried to a chief, laid at a heiau, or presented at the opening of an event today — and the word is built on kupu, to sprout, so the thing given is named for the growth it is meant to cause. Giving created obligation in both directions; a gift that could not be reciprocated was a difficult object.
The word is also a place, and the place is spectacular. Makana is the green fluted peak standing over Hāʻena at the end of the road on Kauaʻi's north shore, and it was the site of ʻoahi, the fire-throwing. Men climbed by night to a ledge near the summit carrying brands of light pāpala wood, lit them and threw them out from the cliff, where the updraft caught the embers and carried them burning far over the sea while people watched from the beach and from canoes below. The ceremony lapsed and has been re-enacted only rarely since. Film audiences have seen the peak without knowing its name: Makana stood in as Bali Hai in South Pacific in 1958.
Why parents choose it
It says the most obvious true thing about a new child in a language that makes it sound considered rather than sentimental. It suits a son or a daughter, the three syllables are entirely regular, and no mainland teacher will stumble over it. Adoptive families and parents after a long wait choose it often, and for the reason you would guess.
Middle names for Makana
Three flowing syllables want something short and firm behind them: Makana Brooks, Makana Ellis, Makana Vaughn, Makana Kai. The last of those keeps both names in the same language, which is the island habit. See the middle names guide for the full method.
Famous Makanas
The slack-key guitarist known simply as Makana, born in Honolulu in 1978 and trained by masters of the ki hōʻalu tradition, is the name's most visible bearer; he played the leaders' dinner at the APEC summit in Honolulu in 2011 and used the occasion to perform his own protest song, which got rather more attention than the set list. Beyond him the mountain does the work, and the word turns up on foundations, prizes and charitable programmes across the islands.
Consider instead
Kealoha is "the love", the same warmth given a definite article. Nohea means lovely or handsome and is the compliment version. Malu offers shade, shelter and peace in two syllables. There is more on the Hawaiian names page and under M.