Kaiulani
Meaning
traditionally glossed 'the royal one, the highest point'; famously borne by Princess Kaʻiulani, Crown Princess of the Kingdom of Hawaii
The story
Kaiulani is a Hawaiian royal name traditionally glossed as the royal one, the highest point, and it belongs to one of the most poignant figures in the islands' history. Princess Kaiulani, born in 1875 to a Hawaiian princess and a Scottish businessman, was crown princess of the Kingdom of Hawaii, raised among the peacocks of her Waikiki estate and befriended by Robert Louis Stevenson, who wrote verses for her. When the monarchy was overthrown in 1893 she was seventeen and at school in England; she sailed for Washington and pleaded her nation's case with a grace that impressed even hostile newspapers. She died in 1899, only twenty-three, and Hawaii has mourned and honored her ever since. On the mainland the name is a genuine rarity, barely a recent trace in the records, a name of real beauty carrying real history.
Popularity, 1890–2024
Shape drawn from US Social Security baby-name records. Kaiulani has stayed rare in US records the whole time: no peak decade to name.
When you meet Kaiulani
Most people given the name Kaiulani in the United States are teenagers or young adults today.
Estimated from US Social Security birth registrations and typical lifespans; a rough guide, not a rule.
The Kaiulani deep dive
Whether you’re naming a baby or exploring your own name’s history, this is a personal letter, not a list: where Kaiulani truly comes from, how it traveled, and what a century of records reveals. If you have grown a tree on nametree, it also considers how Kaiulani fits with your family’s names and surname.
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