Which name are the Sandwich Islands better known as?

The Sandwich Islands are better known today as Hawaii, or the Hawaiian Islands.

British explorer James Cook used the name “Sandwich Islands” after visiting the archipelago in 1778. He chose it to honor John Montagu, the fourth Earl of Sandwich, who was then First Lord of the Admiralty and one of Cook’s patrons. The name appeared widely on European maps and in English-language writing for decades.

The Hawaiian name gradually became dominant, reflecting the islands’ Indigenous identity and political history. The Kingdom of Hawaii unified most of the main islands under Kamehameha I in 1810, and “Hawaiian Islands” became the standard geographic name. Hawaii later became a U.S. territory in 1898 and the 50th U.S. state in 1959.

“Hawaii” can mean the entire state or the largest island specifically called Hawaiʻi, often nicknamed the Big Island. The full archipelago includes eight major islands along with many smaller islands, atolls, and islets.