Place Names of Hawaii: Revised and Expanded Edition

How many place names are there in the Hawaiian Islands? Even a rough estimate is impossible. Hawaiians named taro patches, rocks, trees, canoe landings, resting places in the forests, and the tiniest spots where miraculous events are believed to have taken place. And place names are far from static–names are constantly being given to new houses and buildings, streets and towns, and old names are replaced by new ones.

It is essential, then, to record the names and the lore associated with them now, while Hawaiians are here to lend us their knowledge. And, whatever the fate of the Hawaiian language, the place names will endure. The first edition of Place Names of Hawaii contained only 1,125 entries. The coverage is expanded in the present edition to include about 4,000 entries, including names in English. Also, approximately 800 more names are included in this volume than appear in the second edition of the Atlas of Hawaii.

• Mary Kawena Pukui, Author

  Mary Kawena Pukui was a noted authority on the Hawaiian language. She had a long professional association with the Bernice P. Bishop Museum and translated many Hawaiian historical documents. She coauthored, with Samuel H. Elbert, the Hawaiian Dictionary and Place Names of Hawaii.

• Samuel H. Elbert, Author

  Samuel H. Elbert, professor emeritus of Pacific languages and linguistics at the University of Hawaii, taught the Hawaiian language for many years and is considered one of the foremost authorities on the language today. He is author of the textbook Spoken Hawaiian and is co-author with Mary Pukui of Hawaiian Dictionary, and with Mary Pukui and Esther Mookini of Place Names of Hawaii.

• Esther T. Mookini, Author

• Since the meanings of many of the Hawaiian words and phrases used to identify places in the Islands have roots in history and even in legend, leafing through the pages of this book is an unusually interesting way to learn about the land and its people.
  —The Honolulu Advertiser
• Pukui and Elbert's work stands alone in American toponymic literature.
  —Language