Meanings of Names
Genuine Hawaiian names are unisex. Their literal meaning is usually quite clear, but there may be hidden symbolic meanings known only to the family. Old Hawaiians saw a name as the property of the name-holder, with a power to help or hurt its owner. A meaning that was too apparent might have attracted evil forces. And, just like in Hawaiian poetry, an allusion was considered more beautiful than a plain statement.
Coolness and rain symbolize happiness in a warm climate. Mist is a symbol of romance. Lei means a child, because a beloved child is carried like a lei on the parent's shoulders. A child can also be a flower or a bud, regardless of its sex. Modern parents tend to be more prosaic, calling a child a child, as in Keikilani and Kamalani, in which keiki and kama both mean "child".
Read more about this topic: Hawaiian Name
Famous quotes containing the words meanings of, meanings and/or names:
“Our mother gives us our earliest lessons in love—and its partner, hate. Our father—our “second other”Melaborates on them. Offering us an alternative to the mother-baby relationship . . . presenting a masculine model which can supplement and contrast with the feminine. And providing us with further and perhaps quite different meanings of lovable and loving and being loved.”
—Judith Viorst (20th century)
“Our mother gives us our earliest lessons in love—and its partner, hate. Our father—our “second other”Melaborates on them. Offering us an alternative to the mother-baby relationship . . . presenting a masculine model which can supplement and contrast with the feminine. And providing us with further and perhaps quite different meanings of lovable and loving and being loved.”
—Judith Viorst (20th century)
“A name? Oh, Jesus Christ. Ah, God, I’ve been called by a million names all my life. I don’t want a name. I’m better off with a grunt or a groan for a name.”
—Bernardo Bertolucci (b. 1940)