Maui is the name of a major Polynesian demigod; in English it also names an island and evokes mythic adventure.
Maui is one of the most compelling names in all of Polynesian mythology, belonging to the great demigod trickster-hero who appears — with variations — in the traditions of Hawaii, Māori New Zealand, Samoa, Tonga, and throughout the Pacific. In these oral traditions, Maui fished up the North Island of New Zealand (Te Ika-a-Māui) from the sea with his enchanted jawbone hook, lassoed the sun to slow its journey so humans would have enough daylight, and ultimately sought to conquer death itself by attempting to pass through the body of the goddess Hine-nui-te-pō — an ambition that cost him his life but left the world permanently changed. His stories are foundational creation narratives, still taught and celebrated throughout the Pacific.
The name also belongs to the Hawaiian island chain, with the island of Maui — the second largest in the archipelago — named in his honor. In Native Hawaiian culture, place names and personal names exist in continuous dialogue with ancestral story; to name a child Maui is to invoke that heroic genealogy directly. The name carries associations of oceanic adventure, supernatural strength, and the quintessential Pacific spirit of audacious curiosity.
Globally, the name's visibility surged after Disney's *Moana* (2016), in which a boisterous, shape-shifting Maui became one of the studio's most beloved characters, voiced by Dwayne Johnson. For families of Pacific Islander heritage, the name represents deep cultural pride; for others, it carries the warmth of mythological imagination and the call of the open ocean. Either way, it is a name of extraordinary vitality.