[name]Hi[/name]!
[name]How[/name] nice that you have Hawaiian traditions to call upon!
I really like both [name]Nathaniel[/name] and [name]Alexander[/name] among the “English” names. To my taste, it’s faintly odd to stick [name]Alexander[/name] in the middle when it’s been the first name for so many generations - my recommendation might be to either put it first or not use it at all. [name]Nathaniel[/name] and [name]Alexander[/name] together is nice but kind of a mouthful! Also, [name]Alexander[/name] doesn’t really flow all that well to me after the Hawaiian names you’re considering for first, although it’s OK after Kaimi.
As for the Hawaiian names, it’s really hard for me to evaluate being so unaware of the traditions, but let me try:
Kanoa: Like it enough. Kind of makes me think of canola? Sounds faintly feminine to an outside ear because of the -a, but the [name]Noah[/name] part masculinizes it, too, and could even be a more Anglo nickname if he wanted one? The prn is intuitive (I think), so that’s a real plus.
Kaimi: Kind of like the sound of it more, for some reason, doesn’t really sound as feminine, although the ending in -ee sounds faintly “cutesy”, again to an outside ear of course. I do think it would get misread as Kamie (rhymes with [name]Jamie[/name]) at times outside of Hawai’i so that’s a consideration (especially in first position…in the middle it probably matters less?)
Middles:
[name]Jonathan[/name] is nice although again kind of feels like a mouthful with [name]Alexander[/name] or [name]Nathaniel[/name] (actually, kind of too close to use with [name]Nathaniel[/name], no?). Are you specifically looking to use both a Hawaiian and an Anglo name, by the way?
Keolani - nice, again, [name]Leilani[/name] (sp?) is one of the few Hawaiian names I think is somewhat widely known along with [name]Keanu[/name] (: D), so I wonder if it rings feminine? Although again less important in middle.
Namakaokalani - wow, I have to say, this is awesome! It’s a heck of a lot of name, but to connect him to his great-grandfather would be so cool, and it definitely feels the manliest of all these Hawaiian names to my own personal outside ears and eyes, maybe it’s the length, it kind of takes the eyes and ears off of the ending!
Here are some combos I like best of these
[name]Alexander[/name] Kanoa
[name]Alexander[/name] Kaimi
Kanoa [name]Jonathan[/name]
Kaimi [name]Jonathan[/name]
Kanoa [name]Nathaniel[/name] (this is really growing on me)
Kaimi [name]Nathaniel[/name]
[name]Nathaniel[/name] Namakaokalani (to me, the alliteration is really nice here, and I love the idea of a kid with such a long name maybe just being nn’d [name]Nate[/name] or [name]Nat[/name]! [name]Alexander[/name] Namakaokalani is great for the family connections he’d have, but I like the sound a touch less).
[name]Nathaniel[/name] Kanoa (really like this)
[name]Nathaniel[/name] Kaimi (pretty good too).
As for girls, all the names are pretty, but [name]Clare[/name] would seem pretty short next to a [name]Nathaniel[/name] or [name]Alexander[/name] brother, and [name]Clare[/name] or [name]Elizabeth[/name] would feel very different from a Kanoa or Kaimi brother. Are [name]Lilia[/name] or [name]Halia[/name] Hawaiian? They don’t feel inituitively so to me, but also feel like they could be. So just keep in mind future picks as you decide. Not that they can’t be different, of course they can!
Seeing Kaimi’s on your girl middle list kind of makes me like Kanoa all the more for a boy, I think!
All best!
. This is our short list so far (most of the firsts go with most of the middles, so we haven’t really decided). I’m hoping for some opinions…My DH and I look very caucasian, but I am actually Hawaiian, so those names are legitimate (and gender neutral). We live in [name]Hawaii[/name], so the “weird” factor should be, comparatively, minimal.