What is the Hawaiian word for 'family'?

The Hawaiian word for “family” is ʻohana.

In Hawaiian usage, ʻohana means more than a household of biological relatives. It can include extended family, adopted relatives, and people bound together by a strong sense of mutual responsibility. That broader meaning is why the word is often translated as an inclusive family or kinship network.

The term is connected with the ʻohā, the shoots or offshoots of the kalo, or taro, plant. Taro is central to Hawaiian culture and traditions of ancestry, so the plant metaphor evokes family members growing from a common source. The ʻokina in ʻohana marks a glottal stop and is part of the Hawaiian spelling.

Many people first encountered the word through Disney’s 2002 animated film Lilo & Stitch, which made the phrase “ʻohana means family” internationally famous. Aloha, by contrast, can express love, affection, greeting, or farewell; it is not the specific Hawaiian word for family.