Kamehameha I (Hawaiian pronunciation: [kəmehəˈmɛhə]; c. 1736? – May 8 or 14, 1819 ), also known as Kamehameha the Great, (full Hawaiian name: Kalani Paiʻea Wohi o Kaleikini Kealiʻikui Kamehameha o ʻIolani i Kaiwikapu kauʻi Ka Liholiho Kūnuiākea) was the founder and first ruler of the Kingdom of Hawaii.

Kamehameha is considered the son of Keōua, founder of the House of Keoua, and Kekuʻiapoiwa II. Keōua and Kekuʻiapoiwa were both grandchildren of Keaweʻīkekahialiʻiokamoku, Aliʻi nui of the island of Hawaiʻi, and came from the district of Kohala. Hawaiian genealogy notes that Keōua may not have been Kamehameha's biological father, suggesting instead Kahekili II of Maui. Either way, Kamehameha was a descendant of Keawe through his mother. Keōua acknowledged him as his son and this was recognized in official genealogies.

Accounts of Kamehameha I's birth vary but nearly all sources place his birth between 1736 to 1761. An early source is thought to imply a 1758 dating due to the significance of the date matching a visit from Haley's Comet and being close to the age Francisco de Paula Marín estimated. This dating however, does not work for many well known accounts of the subject such as being a warrior with his uncle, Kalaniʻōpuʻu or being of age to produce his first children.

Hawaiian historian Samuel Kamakau published an account in the Ka Nupepa Kuokoa in 1867 placing the date around 1736. Kamakau wrote, "It was during the time of the warfare among the chiefs of [the island of] Hawaii which followed the death of Keawe, chief over the whole island (Ke-awe-i-kekahi-aliʻi-o-ka-moku) that Kamehameha I was born". However, his general dating has been challenged as twenty years too early over issues involving Kamakau's inaccuracy of dating and the accounts of foreign visitors. Regardless Abraham Fornander wrote, "An Account of the Polynesian Race: Its Origins and Migrations": "when Kamehameha died in 1819 he was past eighty years old. His birth would thus fall between 1736 and 1740, probably nearer the former than the latter".A Brief History of the Hawaiian People by William De Witt Alexander lists the birth date in the "Chronological Table of Events of Hawaiian History" as 1736.

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