Bill · English boy’s name

Bill in Hawaiian is Pila

The form Hawaiian speakers have written since the 1800s, when B became P, the doubled consonant was written once, and a vowel was added at the end.

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Say it

PEE·lah

The gold syllable takes the stress.

What is Bill in Hawaiian?

Bill is Pila in Hawaiian, said PEE-lah.

How Bill became Pila

Hawaiian is written with thirteen letters, so in Bill B became P, the doubled consonant was written once, and a vowel was added at the end. Hawaiian never writes a consonant twice, so the pair collapses to one. A Hawaiian word cannot finish on a consonant, which is where the last vowel comes from.

Pila 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 Pila

Say it PEE-lah, leaning on PEE, sounding every vowel: i as “ee”, a as in “father”. The pronunciation guide covers the whole system.

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 Bill in Hawaiian?

Bill is Pila in Hawaiian, pronounced PEE-lah. It is the form used in Hawaiian-language records since the 1800s.

How do you pronounce Pila?

PEE-lah, with the stress on PEE.

Why does Pila look so different from Bill?

Each sound Hawaiian lacks was swapped for the nearest one it has. In Bill, B became P, the doubled consonant was written once, and a vowel was added at the end.

Is Pila a real Hawaiian name?

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

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