* "uku" which means "flea"
* "lele" which means "to jump"
So, the literal translation of "ukulele" is "jumping flea".
While it seems a bit odd, the name is thought to have come from the way the strings of the instrument were plucked, resembling a jumping flea. Another theory is that it was named after a small, stringed instrument from Portugal called the "braguinha", which was brought to Hawaii by Portuguese immigrants and the sound of which may have resembled a jumping flea.