through their mothers: Kekauluohi and Kina?u (later styled as Ka?ahumanu II) who were half-sisters. Lunalilo translates as Luna (high) lilo (lost) or "so high up as to be lost to sight" in the Hawaiian language. He was also named after King William IV of the United Kingdom, a great friend of the Hawaiian royal family.

In the 2000 publication; "Kamehameha's Children Today", authors Charles Ahlo, Rubellite Kawena Kinney Johnson