Hawaiian street names

[Miulang]

City laws require that street names on Oahu must be Hawaiian, but have you ever wondered what your street name means? There's a book out by Rich Budnick called "Hawaiian Street Names: The Complete Guide to O'ahu Street Names Updated" (Aloha Press, $12.95) that gives translations for 5,000 Hawaiian street names. Fun.

I'd have to think twice about living in a house on Hepa St. in Waipahu (translation: "idiot, moron"). I'd be grateful to live on Lakimau St. ("always lucky") in Diamond Head. And you'd only catch me living on Kalapu St. in 'Ewa Beach ("ghosts") if I wasn't afraid to go out at night!

Miulang

[tutusue]

Re: Hawaiian street names

Hey, Miulang...what does the book say about Farrington Hwy? South St.?

[Miulang]

Re: Hawaiian street names

Hey, Miulang...what does the book say about Farrington Hwy? South St.?

Farrington Hwy="always congested" and South St.="near where I spent the first 2 years of my life" The streets in Honolulu with non-Hawaiian names were named prior to the street naming law being passed (and that law probably wasn't passed until sometime in the 1960s, I bet)

Actually, I think Farrington Hwy was named after Gov. Wallace Rider Farrington (same as Farrington High School) or for his son, Joseph Rider Farrington, who was a territorial representative to Congress from Hawai'i. South St. was probably named the way it is because it is south of downtown Honolulu or maybe Chinatown.

Miulang

[lavagal]

Re: Hawaiian street names

City laws require that street names on Oahu must be Hawaiian, but have you ever wondered what your street name means? There's a book out by Rich Budnick called "Hawaiian Street Names: The Complete Guide to O'ahu Street Names Updated" (Aloha Press, $12.95) that gives translations for 5,000 Hawaiian street names. Fun.

I'd have to think twice about living in a house on Hepa St. in Waipahu (translation: "idiot, moron"). I'd be grateful to live on Lakimau St. ("always lucky") in Diamond Head. And you'd only catch me living on Kalapu St. in 'Ewa Beach ("ghosts") if I wasn't afraid to go out at night!

Miulang

I lived on Lakimau Street for a few years...luck was neither good nor bad. I now live on Kauhako Street---which is another street name The Advertiser cited: "the dragged large intestines." Nice visual image, yeah? I actually think it means the dragged large intestines of a whale. Many of the streets out here are named for Kauai places.

But when it comes to Hepa Street, well, there probably was someone way back when who lived there who was that and so that's how place names go. I understand on Guam, and former Pacific Daily News folks could attest, streets were named things like, "Mike's Party Street."

[Glen Miyashiro]

Re: Hawaiian street names

The streets in Honolulu with non-Hawaiian names were named prior to the street naming law being passed (and that law probably wasn't passed until sometime in the 1960s, I bet)

Try 1978. The dating of this measure (first introduced in Honolulu Revised Ordinances 1978) suggests to me that it was related to the state's 1978 Constitutional Convention, which was well known for its emphasis on Hawaiian culture.

Sec. 22-8.3 Further requirements relative to street names.
Street names within the city shall comply with the following requirements:
(a) Street names selected shall consist of Hawaiian names, words or phrases and shall be selected with a view to the appropriateness of the name to historic, cultural, scenic and topographical features of the area.
(b) Street names selected shall not duplicate existing street names in spelling or sound, and shall be as dissimilar as possible in spelling or sound from any existing street names.
(c) Street names shall be selected so as not to exceed the space limitation of a standard street name sign of the department of transportation services (normally 18 spaces).
(d) Streets that constitute a continuation of an existing street shall be given the same name as the existing street.
(e) Streets that are continuous shall bear the same name throughout.
(f) A street shall be entitled to a street name only if:
(1) The roadway has a legally defined right-of-way, by roadway lot or easement; however, street names shall be considered for subdivisions as to which tentative approval has been granted and construction plans have been approved by the city;
(2) The roadway has a minimum right-of-way of 18 feet and is paved; and
(3) The roadway serves two or more lots or units.
(g) Any street names adopted after the effective date of this article shall include appropriate diacritical marks, which shall appear on the street name sign prepared by the department of transportation services. Appropriate diacritical marks shall also be required for all replacement signs for street names in effect on the effective date of this article, and to all signs where a newly named street constitutes an extension of a street for which a name is in effect on the effective date of this article. The department of land utilization and the department of transportation services may take all steps necessary to redesignate the names of existing streets to include appropriate diacritical marks where such redesignation is found to be necessary or appropriate.
(Sec. 22-8.3, R.O. 1978 (1983 Ed.))

(from http://www.honolulu.gov/refs/roh/22.htm)

Maui County's ordinance is shorter:

2.38.060 Standards for naming streets.
A. Names of Existing Streets. Existing streets shall retain the name which has been historically accepted through common usage, unless the renaming of an existing street is processed pursuant to section 2.38.090.
B. Names of new streets shall:
1. Be named in the Hawaiian language; or
2. Have an appropriate meaning, and whenever possible, relate to the area’s historic significance or follow a uniform theme (i.e., flowers, fish, people, etc.).
C. The commission shall avoid, as much as practicable, using a street name more than once on any island. (Ord. 3106 § 1, 2002; Ord. 2352 § 3 (part), 1994)

(from http://ordlink.com/codes/maui/_DATA/...ION_ON_NA.html)

Kauaʻi County has a similar ordinance, too, but it's on a PDF and not easily quotable (very long link to a big PDF file, section 9-2.3(g)(3) on page 147 of the PDF file, page 270 as printed on the document).

In Hawaiʻi County, the county code says that the county planning department is responsible for street names (http://www.hawaii-county.com/countycode.html, sections 22-5.2 and 23-49), but I couldn't find any planning department rules on naming conventions. My guess, considering some of the street names in the newer East Hawaiʻi subdivisions, is that Hawaiʻi County does not require new street names to be in the Hawaiian language. Guess they'd be too hard for new property buyers to pronounce.

[Glen Miyashiro]

Re: Hawaiian street names

There's a book out by Rich Budnick called "Hawaiian Street Names: The Complete Guide to O'ahu Street Names Updated" (Aloha Press, $12.95) that gives translations for 5,000 Hawaiian street names. Fun.

Budnick has written one for Maui streets, too. They're both good to have if you want to translate your street name into English. But the book I really like is Place Names of Hawaiʻi, by Mary Kawena Pukui. There's not much overlap with Budnick, since most of the street names he lists are straightforward translations, newly minted for recent subdivisions. By contrast, Pukui covers the older, non-Hawaiian-named streets, like Lusitana, Bingham, Judd, and Gulick, and gives in-depth etymologies and histories for a wealth of Hawaiian names for neighborhoods, districts, and geographic features, some still in common use and some entirely obsolete. (For example, does anyone who now lives there still call the Hawaiʻi Kai Marina by its old name of Kuapā?)

Edit: To give credit more fully, Mary Pukui wrote the original edition back in 1966 -- since then, it has since been revised and expanded several times by Pukui's collaborators, Samuel Elbert and Esther Moʻokini.

[Pomai]

Re: Hawaiian street names

How about Oahu's military bases. Are they exempt from this ordinance, or were all their English street names given prior to it? The government seems to have basically disregarded the use of Hawaiian names on base, except for just 1 or 2 here and there.

There's an Iwo Jima st. on Lualualei Naval Reserve and a Midway st. on Kalaeloa, which point out the common use of WWII points of interest for base names.

Then in Kapahulu, you have those streets that are named in alphabetical order: Brokaw st., Catherine st., Duval st., Esther st., Francis st., George st., and James st.. That's kinda' neat.

Only now I realized there's actually a street name in Kalihi near nimitz named Libby st., which must be where Libby Manapua Shop got their name (I'm guessing). Were they located on that street before moving to Kalihi st.?

[Glen Miyashiro]

Re: Hawaiian street names

How about Oahu's military bases. Are they exempt from this ordinance, or were all their English street names given prior to it? The government seems to have basically disregarded the use of Hawaiian names on base, except for just 1 or 2 here and there.

Generally, the names were given prior to the new laws, so there's no automatic need to change them.

There's an Iwo Jima st. on Lualualei Naval Reserve and a Midway st. on Kalaeloa, which point out the common use of WWII points of interest for base names.

When the Barbers Point Naval Air Station was closed and the area reverted to its old name of Kalaeloa around 2000 or so, there was a lot of controversy over the possibility of renaming the Station's WWII-battle-named streets to civilian Hawaiian names. Veterans protested that the names honored soldiers' wartime sacrifices.

Then in Kapahulu, you have those streets that are named in alphabetical order: Brokaw st., Catherine st., Duval st., Esther st., Francis st., George st., and James st.. That's kinda' neat.

Only now I realized there's actually a street name in Kalihi near nimitz named Libby st., which must be where Libby Manapua Shop got their name (I'm guessing). Were they located on that street before moving to Kalihi st.?

Dunno about the manapua shop, but Pukui et al. say that the street itself used to run to the old Libby pineapple cannery. Boy, that name brings back memories!

When it's Libby's Libby's Libby's
on the label label label
you will like it like it like it
on your table table table
When it's Libby's Libby's Libby's
on the label label label!

[Lei Liko]

Re: Hawaiian street names

Then in Kapahulu, you have those streets that are named in alphabetical order: Brokaw st., Catherine st., Duval st., Esther st., Francis st., George st., and James st.. That's kinda' neat.

Don't forget those on Kalaepohaku's rugged slopes!

Many of the streets up on St. Louis Heights are named in honor of past Brothers and Priests from the former St. Louis College: Alencastre, Bertram, Libert, Alphonse, Robert, Maigret, and Peter.

[tutusue]

Re: Hawaiian street names

[...]Dunno about the manapua shop, but Pukui et al. say that the street itself used to run to the old Libby pineapple cannery. Boy, that name brings back memories!

[I]When it's Libby's Libby's Libby's
on the label label label
[...]

<teehee> Yep! Major memories! Check this out! Scroll down to 3/3/04.

[Glen Miyashiro]

Re: Hawaiian street names

Don't forget those on Kalaepohaku's rugged slopes!

Many of the streets up on St. Louis Heights are named in honor of past Brothers and Priests from the former St. Louis College: Alencastre, Bertram, Libert, Alphonse, Robert, Maigret, and Peter.

And then there are all the Wilhelmina Rise side-streets named after Matson ships... Sierra, Lurline, Monterey, Matsonia, Claudine...

[EastCoastTropics]

Re: Hawaiian street names

The main street into Pacific Palisades (off of Waimano Home Rd) is aptly named, Komo Mai Drive!

[Pomai]

Re: Hawaiian street names

My namesake street, Pomaikai Pl. is located in the Kokokahi area near the Kaneohe Air Base.

So if I move to a house there, I shall be considered owner of the street as well.

[Pua'i Mana'o]

Re: Hawaiian street names

I get naughty thoughts of stealing from the government every time I pass a street sign with one of our names on it....of course, I wouldn't dare do such a thing...maybe because I keep forgetting to put a tool kit in the car. *ahem*

[EastCoastTropics]

Re: Hawaiian street names

My namesake street, Pomaikai Pl. is located in the Kokokahi area near the Kaneohe Air Base. So if I move to a house there, I shall be considered owner of the street as well.

There used to be a street in our town with our last name as well but it was later changed! It would be pretty cool to live on a street with your surname on it....even with the same town name.....Sam Happy on Happy Drive in Happy, MA!