Liliu as a Baby Name. Meaning and Origin of Liliu

What is the meaning of the name Liliu ?

The baby name Liliu is a girl name , 3 syllables long and is pronounced lee-LEE-oo.

Liliu is Hawaiian in Origin.

Liliu is best understood as a diacritic-free spelling of Hawaiian Liliʻu, a word and name in ʻŌlelo Hawaiʻi. The earliest secure form is Liliʻu, with the ʻokina marking a glottal stop before the final vowel; its syllables are li-li-ʻu. In Pukui and Elbert’s Hawaiian lexicon, liliʻu denotes smarting, stinging, or a sharp ache, from a reduplicated lili element associated with irritation rather than the ordinary Hawaiian word for flower, pua.

As a personal name it is chiefly associated with Lydia Liliʻu Loloku Walania Kamakaʻeha, later Queen Liliʻuokalani of Hawaiʻi, whose names record chiefly Hawaiian naming practices of the nineteenth century. Liliʻuokalani combines Liliʻu with o ka lani, of the heavenly/royal one. Outside Hawaiian contexts, Liliu usually appears without the ʻokina in records and databases, while Liliʻu preserves the native orthography. Independent use remains rare.

⚙ Liliu is far from common. We have only 17 recorded uses of it on record, from 8 countries.