Alapai as a Baby Name. Meaning and Origin of Alapai

What is the meaning of the name Alapai ?

The baby name Alapai is a Unisex name , 34 syllables long and is pronounced AH-lah-pie (Alapai) or ah-lah-PAH-ee (Alapaʻi with ʻokina).

Alapai is Hawaiian in Origin.

Alapai is a Hawaiian given name, more accurately written Alapaʻi with the ʻokina (glottal stop). In Hawaiian, alapaʻi functions as a verb meaning “to urge on, drive, or press forward,” and by extension can be interpreted as “one who urges” or “driver, leader.” The spelling Alapai reflects anglicized usage; other romanizations include Alapa’i, while the compound honorific Alapaʻinui (“Alapaʻi the great”) appears in historical sources.

Best known from pre‑unification Hawaiʻi, the name was borne by the high chief Alapaʻinui of Hawaiʻi Island in the 18th century, a pivotal figure in the generation before Kamehameha I. Because of that association, Alapaʻi occurs in aliʻi genealogies and later as a family name and place name in the Islands. Contemporary usage is uncommon but enduring, found chiefly in Hawaiʻi and the diaspora; while traditionally masculine, it may be used unisex today, especially in forms without diacritics.

⚙ Alapai turns up in none of the birth registries or name datasets we cover. Most often that means a rare name, a regional or heritage one, or a recent coinage. Either way, it remains a genuinely rare choice.