Hawaiian female names come from the Hawaiian language, which favors open syllables and vowel endings. Many girls’ names are compounds built from nature or virtue terms, with elements like lani (sky, heavenly) especially frequent in feminine usage. The ‘okina (glottal stop) and kahakō (macron) are phonemic and can change meaning, though they are often omitted in English contexts. Hawaiian does not mark grammatical gender, so many given names are unisex; feminine choices commonly feature -lani or -ani endings and components such as aloha, anuhea (cool mist), or alohi (brightness).

Contemporary practice includes hyphenated forms and English-influenced spellings. Examples include Alani, Aolani, Aulani, Aulii, Anela, Anuhea, Alohilani, Alamea, Cailani, and Elikapeka.