I am no expert, but I believe this is a bottle palm, Hyophorbe lagenicaulis, that has been well "groomed". Doing a search for Bottle Palm will reveal a number of pictures that look like the one you provided. Others will show much rougher versions that haven't been trimmed as tightly.

Images

That is defuinately a bottle palm. they get that name because of the swollen trunk

Thanks for the suggestions of bottle palm, but the bottle palm's fronds are much stiffer than this palm. This palm's fronds are softer. They arch up, then down, and move in the wind like a coconut. Are there different varieties of bottle palm with the more delicate frond?
It seems like most mature bottle palms are shaped more like a coke bottle than a tear drop. Are there other palms that have the teardrop shape?
Thanks so much for any info!

the fronds are way to plumose to be a bottle.
the plumose like fronds look alot like Roystonea, The trunk has a very cool shape but liek you said its a young one.
im going with Roystonia regia

Definitely Royal Palm. Roystonea elata or regia. I think that both are now classified as R. regia.

Thank you so much for helping me out! I think it's a royal palm, too.
Are there any short royal palms (like closer to 15') that stand a chance at having this shape trunk as a grown up? The christmas palm comes up when I do a search for dwarf royal palm. But the christmas palm doesn't have the totally cool base that the photo has.
Any suggestions? Thanks a ton!

no short royals. Archontophoenix swells but also can get tall, some Ravenea swell and stay relatively small, but none swell as much as the Hyphorbes spindle and bottle.

Definitely a royal palm and a beautiful one at that! I think royal palms are beautiful at nearly any age so I wouldn't worry much about them not looking nice when they are older since they are definitely one of the most beautiful palms out there!
-Alex

My guess is Roystonea oleracea... leaflets too wide and flat and pale green for regia/elata (same thing), and crown a bit too high up for these other species, too.. .but it will become more obvious as it grows. But certainly not a bottle palm or Archontophoenix. Note, there are dozens of palm species that develop ventricose trunks (swollen in the bottom or middle). Roystonea oleracea is one of the most beautiful species of palm there are (but so are about another few hundred species of palm... can never decide which are really the most beautiful).

Here is a photo I took in Hawaii of a row of Roystonea oleraceas, and a 'replacement' Roystonea regia (planted by landscapers who thought all Royal palms looked the same). You can clearly see the difference between these two species when grown side by side.

I just noticed there are two R regias in that photo, one on either side of the Roystonea oleracea in the center. Ooops. Guess two of those R oleraceas died earlier and were replaced.

Thanks for all of your suggestions on my mystery palm! I'm bummed that this beauty will not stay short(er)!
But the roystoneas really are lovely. I may have to cave to a taller tree! Are they pretty quick growing? If it takes 30+ years for it to achieve a height above my desired max, that wouldn't be so bad. It'd give me time to get used to the idea!
Also, I found a ravenea rivularis photo on the Palm Society's page that makes it look as though it stays short with a swollen base, not as graceful as my original pic, but still nice.
Do any of you grow ravenea rivularis and does it stay on the shorter side?
Also, the archontophoenix is gorgeous- it looks very similar to my photo also. Does it get tall quickly?
And lastly, for now- do one of these palms do better than the others in a windy, but rainy spot?
Thank you so much for the dialogue! Now I've got an eye on licualas and pygmy date palms, too!

what is your max height? Ravenea rivularis can grow pretty high, 60ft and fast especially in wet rainy hawaii.
since you are in hawaii your options are great and many!

Thanks for the reply, Eric.
I'm not allowed to plant anything over max. 40'
The thing that attracted me the most to the young royal was the lovely trunk. I LOVE the white lines where the fronds fell off, and I love the tear drop shape! I also love the fronds that really wave in the wind. Is there a palm that has these characteristics, but doesn't get so darned tall?
What would you pick as a stand alone specimen palm for the tropics? I plan on planting it next to the driveway.

Royal palms in Hawaii grow FAST... that palm will easily double in height in a few years (3 maybe). They grow faster than just about anything in Hawaii (palms that is) except for maybe Carpentarias and Pigafettas. And that species, Roystonea oleracea, is the tallest of all the royals and grows up to over 100feet. King palms grow pretty tall and fast in Hawaii, too, getting close to about 80'. Licualas and pigmy date palms are much better choices if you need something short. But there are hundreds of other species you can grow that will stay well under 40' there.

if i had only one choice of palm to plant in hawaii as a specimen it would be Chambeyronia macrocarpa aka the flamethrower palm. It is a elegant and attractive palm that whenever it grows a new leaf it is bright red and fades into green and it is under 25 ft. but like lzrddr said there are hundreds of others.

Thank you lzzdr and Eric. Sounds like I'll get to watch the 'lovely little palm' grow like a weed!
The chambeyronia macrocarpa is very beautiful. The watermelon trunk is awesome against the new red fronds- like the inside of the fruit. I can imagine that 2 or 3 planted together would be really striking. I wonder if it's available here. The red sealing wax palm- cyrtostachys renda, is very popular in this area and has a similar effect with the red crownshaft (just learned a new word!) and bright green fronds. But in general I like the solitary palms more than the ones that clump.
I think I'll need to keep my eyes peeled for another lovely palm since the one I was hoping for turned out to be a baby royal palm! If I end up at a nursery or garden with a ton of beautiful palms, I'll post pictures of them. Aloha!

Aloha, lilikoilady, you have good taste in palms. :-)

For a slower growing, and still very graceful and distinctive palm, take a look at Satakentia liukiuensis or Neoveitchia storckii. Either of these would be a striking accent along your driveway. You might like them so much you'll have to have more than one, like me. ;-) Find them at a nursery specializing in palms. Probably not available at your average nursery. If you get stuck, order from Floribunda on Hawaii Island, but larger palms, say 5 to 7 gal. would be an ideal size for planting.