Puna as a Baby Name. Meaning and Origin of Puna

What is the meaning of the name Puna ?

The baby name Puna is a Unisex name , 2 syllables long and is pronounced POO-nah (IPA: /ˈpu.na/).

Puna is Hawaiian in Origin.

Rooted in the Polynesian lexicon, Puna is shared across Hawaiian, Māori, Samoan, Tongan, and Tahitian, descending from Proto-Polynesian *puna meaning “spring, well, fountain.” In Hawaiian it also names a traditional district on Hawaiʻi Island, reinforcing the sense of “source” and life‑giving water. The figurative meaning “origin” or “wellspring” gives the name a gentle, nature‑infused symbolism.

As a given name, Puna appears in 19th- and 20th-century records in Hawaiʻi and Aotearoa New Zealand and remains in contemporary use, typically unisex. Spelling is stable (Puna); macronized variants are uncommon. Close relatives and compounds include Punawai or Puna-wai (“spring water”) in Hawaiian and Te Puna as a Māori place- and family-name element. Across the Andes, Spanish and Quechua use puna for the high, windswept plateau; this has occasionally inspired place-derived naming, though it is unrelated to Indian Poona/Pune. Overall, Puna conveys freshness, renewal, and rootedness.