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Hawaiian Name Finder

Hawaiian word · noun

au

“current, era; messenger”

Also on this page: ʻau, “to swim, to travel”, a different word spelled with an ʻokina.

🌊 Names meaning ocean

Say it

OW

In names

1 names

0 girl · 0 boy · 1 unisex

What does au mean in Hawaiian?

Au is a current in the sea and a period of time — the same word doing both jobs, as a current is time made visible. It also means to swim or travel.

Say it OW. Every vowel is pronounced, and the capitalized syllable takes the stress. The pronunciation guide covers the rules.

On this site au is part of 1 names: 1 begin with it, 0 end with it. They split evenly between girls and boys, and all of them sit in the group of Hawaiian names meaning ocean.

Names that start with au (1)

Au comes first, and the second word says what kind.

  • Royal

    Aulani

    “royal messenger, chief's messenger”

    Pronounced ow-LAH-neeau + lani

    Unisex

Hawaiian word · verb

ʻau “to swim, to travel”

ʻAu is to swim or to travel, usually by sea. ʻAukai, a seafarer, is built from it.

Say it OW. ʻau and au are separate words: the ʻokina is a consonant in Hawaiian, so it changes the word as much as any other letter would. ʻau on wehewehe.org ↗

Names built from ʻau (1)

  • Water

    ʻAukai

    “sea current”

    Pronounced ow-KYEʻau + kai

    Boy

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 the difference between au and ʻau?

Au means current, era; messenger. ʻau, written with an ʻokina, is a different word meaning to swim, to travel. The ʻokina is a consonant in Hawaiian, so the two are no more alike than "at" and "hat" in English.

What does au mean?

Au means current, era; messenger. Au is a current in the sea and a period of time — the same word doing both jobs, as a current is time made visible.

How do you pronounce au?

OW. Every vowel is a separate sound and the stressed syllable is written in capitals.

Is au a Hawaiian name on its own?

Au is not usually given as a name by itself, but it is part of 1 names on this site, such as Aulani.

All Hawaiian words used in names