What is Emilia in Hawaiian?
Emilia is ʻEmalia in Hawaiian, said eh-mah-LEE-ah.
How Emilia became ʻEmalia
Hawaiian is written with thirteen letters, so in Emilia the i became a. The ʻokina at the front is a consonant in Hawaiian, the catch in the voice before the first vowel.
Other recorded spellings of Emilia
Hawaiian records do not settle on one spelling for every borrowed name. Alongside ʻEmalia, Emilia was also written ʻEmelia. Each is a real Hawaiian writing of the name rather than a variant anyone invented; which one a family used came down to who was doing the writing, and when.
ʻEmalia 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 ʻEmalia
Say it eh-mah-LEE-ah, leaning on LEE, sounding every vowel: e as in “bet”, 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.