Hawaiian Dog Names

Visitors to Hawaii's Garden Isle may want to commemorate the island's beauty with this place-name.

Keala, also spelled Ke'ala, was a common name in its native Hawaii during the mid-20th century. It's considered unisex, but these days is virtually all feminine in usage.

As a Maori name, Kaui is a feminized form of Kauri, a type of native tree.

This phonetic spelling variation of Iolani could is bang on trend with Leilani, Meilani, and the like, yet was given to fewer than 10 baby girls during the last year on record.

This Hawaiian name breathes new (warm) life into the traditional Cecilia and offers the added attraction of the spunky "Kiki" as an obvious nickname option.

Kalola certainly cutes up the somewhat dowdy 50s image of the name Carol. Plus it lends itself to the trendy "Lola" as a nickname.

Aloha is more familiar but less namelike than Alohi, a Hawaiian name that means bright and shining. However, with the rise of word names, Aloha might make an undeniably cool and modern choice. Aloha Wonderwell (born Idris Hall) was dubbed "The World's Most Widely Travelled Girl" in the 1920s.

This Hawaiian take on Miriam has all the sounds of a modern-day smash hit — think Amelia, Mila, etc. — but is virtually undiscovered.

Akela is one of the unisex names used in Hawaii to signify Anglo choices: in Akela's case, Asher for boys or Adela for girls.

Add this seldom-heard name to the vast array of international takes on Caroline.