Jean · English girl’s name

Jean in Hawaiian is Kini

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

Translate another name

Say it

KEE·nee

The gold syllable takes the stress.

It also means

“multitude”

What is Jean in Hawaiian?

Jean is Kini in Hawaiian, said KEE-nee. The same form covers Jane and Jennie, because Hawaiian writes all of these spellings the same way.

How Jean became Kini

Hawaiian is written with thirteen letters, so in Jean J became I, and a vowel was added at the end. A Hawaiian word cannot finish on a consonant, which is where the last vowel comes from.

Kini as a Hawaiian name

Kini is not only a borrowed spelling. It reads as Hawaiian in its own right, meaning “multitude”, and it is given as a boy's name in Hawaiʻi today. Its own page has the full meaning, the word it is built from, and names that go with it.

Kini is also a Hawaiian word: kini means “multitude, forty thousand”.

How to say Kini

Say it KEE-nee, leaning on KEE, sounding every vowel: i as “ee”. The pronunciation guide covers the whole system.

Where Jean comes from

Jean is a Scottish and English form of Jehanne, the medieval French feminine of John, which goes back to the Hebrew Yochanan, God is gracious. In France Jean is a man's name; in English it has been a woman's name since the Middle Ages.

In Hawaiian it falls together with Jane and Jennie as Kini, because all three begin with the same sound and Hawaiian writes J as K or I.

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 Jean in Hawaiian?

Jean is Kini in Hawaiian, pronounced KEE-nee. It is the form used in Hawaiian-language records since the 1800s, and it covers Jane and Jennie as well.

How do you pronounce Kini?

KEE-nee, with the stress on KEE.

Why does Kini look so different from Jean?

Each sound Hawaiian lacks was swapped for the nearest one it has. In Jean, J became I, and a vowel was added at the end.

Is Kini a real Hawaiian name?

Yes. Beyond being the Hawaiian spelling of Jean, Kini reads as Hawaiian on its own and means "multitude". It is in use as a given name in Hawaiʻi today.

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