Kiana

Kiana is the Hawaiian equivalent of Diana. The traditional 12-lettered Hawaiian alphabet is only composed of five vowels (A, E, I, O, U) and seven consonants (H, K, L, M, N, P, W), so when English-speaking explorers and missionaries came to the islands bringing "white man" given names, they had to be transliterated to a certain extent. This is how the “D” in Diana became a “K” instead. The root origin of Diana comes from Roman mythology, borne by the goddess of the hunt and the moon (Greek: Artemis). Diana was the daughter of the king of all Roman gods, Jupiter, and the twin sister of Apollo, god of the arts and the sun. Diana was an important figure in Roman pagan civilization particularly among the plebeians (before Christianity was adopted as the official religion of the Roman Empire in 380 A.D.). In Roman mythology, Diana is characterized as beautiful, a skillful huntress, chaste (a virgin who swears never to marry), and a protector of childbirth. The name is most likely borrowed from the Greek word “dios” which means “of Zeus” (Zeus being the Greek equivalent to the Roman Jupiter). “Of Zeus” would of course translate to “divine.” The ancient Latin word “divum” also means “sky, open air” which is appropriate since Diana was the moon goddess. The name Diana was brought to England by way of the French (who use “Diane”) and the Roman virgin goddess became a favorite reference among Elizabethan poets and playwrights. As a given name, however, Diana did not come into widespread usage until the late 1800s. Prior, Christians especially were reluctant to bestow this pagan name upon their daughters. The Hawaiians began as a pagan civilization so all the more reason to embrace this lovely moniker. Kiana is not a common name in the United States from a national perspective, but it’s currently the 45th most popular girl’s name in the Aloha State!