A younger branch of the reigning family of Keaweʻīkekahialiʻiokamoku (from the Big Island of Hawaiʻi), the dynastic line was established by Keōua Kalanikupuapaʻikalaninui Ahilapalapa, who was the father of Kamehameha I.
His father, High Chief Keʻeaumoku-nui of Kohala and Kona, was the second son of Keaweʻīkekahialiʻiokamoku, King of Hawaiʻi Island and his half-sister bride, Kalanikauleleiaiwi.
The ancestry of Keōua's mother, High Chiefess Kamakaʻīmoku, daughter of Kuʻa Nuʻuanu, Oʻahu district chief descended from the nobility of Hilo who were descendants of King ʻUmi-a-Līloa's youngest son Kumalae, ruler of Hilo.
Kamakaʻimoku was also the half-sister of Heulu (through their mother Umiula-a-kaʻahumanu), the father of Keawe-a-Heulu, another ancestor of the House of Kalākaua.
Kamehameha I of the House of Keōua Nui conquered the separate islands in 1795, uniting them under a single Kingdom of Hawaii.