Alec · English boy’s name

Alec in Hawaiian is ʻAlika

The form Hawaiian speakers have written since the 1800s, when C became K, and a vowel was added at the end.

Say it

ah·LEE·kah

The gold syllable takes the stress.

What is Alec in Hawaiian?

Alec is ʻAlika in Hawaiian, said ah-LEE-kah. The same form covers Alex, because Hawaiian writes both spellings the same way.

How Alec became ʻAlika

Hawaiian is written with thirteen letters, so in Alec C became K, and a vowel was added at the end. A Hawaiian word cannot finish on a consonant, which is where the last vowel comes from. The ʻokina at the front is a consonant in Hawaiian, the catch in the voice before the first vowel.

ʻAlika has a page of its own as a Hawaiian given name, with its popularity and the names it is usually paired with.

How to say ʻAlika

Say it ah-LEE-kah, leaning on LEE, sounding every vowel: a as in “father”, i as “ee”. The ʻokina (ʻ) is a catch in the voice, the break in the middle of “uh-oh”. The pronunciation guide covers the whole system.

Where Alec comes from

Alec is a Scottish short form of Alexander, from the Greek Alexandros, usually explained as defender of men. Alexander the Great made the name famous across the ancient world, and Scottish kings kept it common in Britain.

The Hawaiian form, ʻAlika, turns the hard c into k and closes the name with a vowel.

Sources the Pukui and Elbert Hawaiian Dictionary, Place Names of Hawaii, Nānā i ke Kumu, wehewehe.org, Wiktionary's Hawaiian given names and U.S. Social Security baby-name records. How this site is compiled · Send a correction

Questions people ask

What is Alec in Hawaiian?

Alec is ʻAlika in Hawaiian, pronounced ah-LEE-kah. It is the form used in Hawaiian-language records since the 1800s, and it covers Alex as well.

How do you pronounce ʻAlika?

ah-LEE-kah, with the stress on LEE.

Why does ʻAlika look so different from Alec?

Each sound Hawaiian lacks was swapped for the nearest one it has. In Alec, C became K, and a vowel was added at the end.

Is ʻAlika a real Hawaiian name?

Yes, as a borrowed name. Hawaiian families have used ʻAlika since the 1800s, but it is Alec respelled, not a name built from Hawaiian words.

All 164 English names in Hawaiian · Hawaiian boy's names