indicate the level to which a name has been verified.
Gender Masculine & Feminine
Usage Tongan, Samoan, Tahitian, Polynesian Mythology
Meaning & History
Meaning unknown, though it likely means "king, prince, noble, chief" based on the fact that the meaning of Mapu 'a Vaea, natural blowholes in Houma on the island of Tongatapu in Tonga, is known to be 'Whistle of the Noble/Chief/King' in Tongan. The name has been born by Tongan kings and chiefs in antiquity. Baron Vaea, born Siaosi Tuʻihala ʻAlipate Vaea Tupou, was the Prime Minister of Tonga from 1991-2000. Mount Vaea is a mountain overlooking the Samoan capital of Apia on the island of Upolu, and is best known as the burial site of writer Robert Louis Stevenson. The name of the mountain comes from the Samoan myth of the giant Vaea who, in grieving for the loss of his son, petrified and became the mountain.