In Hawaii, only people of Native Hawaiian descent are called "Hawaiian." The overwhelming majority of Hawaii residents have no Native Hawaiian blood and many find it offensive to be called "Hawaiian." Non-Hawaiian residents of Hawaii prefer to be called "Hawaii Resident," "Local," "Islander," "Kama'aina" or simply as "from Hawaii." Just not "Hawaiian."

People who aren't from Hawaii and don't have a trace of Native Hawaiian ancestry decided that anybody living in Hawaii should be called "Hawaiian." They never went to the islands to get a consensus on what the residents of Hawaii want to be called. They never stopped and considered that an ethnic group has already claimed the name "Hawaiian." California residents accept being called Californians because there wasn't an ethnic group already using that name. New York residents accept being called New Yorkers because there wasn't an ethnic group already using that name. The same can be said about 47 other states, but not the fiftieth.

People from Hawaii tend to be very proud of their cultural heritage. Even a person mixed with eight different ethnicities will gladly name off all eight if you ask her what her nationality is. I, myself, am a proud Filipino-American from Hawaii. To call me "Hawaiian" is an insult both to my Filipino heritage and to those who actually are Hawaiian.

The Associated Press used to recommend "Hawaiian" as the default demonym for any resident of Hawaii, but in 2005, they recognized this dissonance and updated their Stylebook to prescribe the term "Hawaiian" to only refer to people of Native Hawaiian descent. United States Government Publishing Office should follow suit and stop calling non-Hawaiians "Hawaiian."