The ukulele has a rich history and tradition. While this instrument first appeared in Hawaii in the eighteenth century, its roots are found in Portugal. However, it is not known as to who actually invented the uke. Despite this, the story of how this instrument rose to popularity is an exciting one.

Historians agree that the Portuguese braguinha or machete de braga is the instrument that led to the creation of the ukulele. The braguinha is a small instrument as compared to the guitar but operates quite similar to the first four stringers of the guitar.

On the other hand, the ukulele has the same scale length as the machete but is tuned GCEA instead of DGBD. In other words, we can say that the Hawaiians nicknamed the braguinha as ukulele. Let’s see how this happened.

By the mid-eighteenth century, Hawaii’s sugar industry was booming, which created a shortage of workforce in the area. At the same time, Portugal was experiencing economic collapse. The economic downturn forced many Portuguese to immigrate to Hawaii to find employment opportunities in the sugar industry.

Many Portuguese arrived in Hawaii along with their families and machetes. Among them were three woodworkers named Manuel Nunes, Augusto Dias, and Jose do Espirito (originally from Madeira’s port city, Funchal). A man named Joao Fernandes was also among the passengers. He played the machete and sang a thanksgiving song upon arrival at the Honolulu Harbor on August 23, 1879.

Fernandes’s performance moved the Hawaiians so much so that it made them obsessed with the branguinha. The Hawaiians nicknamed the instrument as the "ukulele," which means “jumping flea.’ This term refers to the way Fernandes’ fingers moved on the fretboard.

Many Portuguese immigrants lived in Hawaii, but Nunes, Dias, and Santos traveled to Honolulu to find work upon the completion of their contractual employment in Hawaii. They started woodwork and instruments making business in Honolulu. Their efforts further promoted the ukulele.

It is not clear as to who made the first ukulele. What we know is that it went from Portugal to Hawaii as a branguinha. Once in Hawaii and Honolulu, the machete changed in size and shape and got reentrant tuning that gave the ukulele its exclusive sound and ease of playability.

The Hawaiian king David Kalakauna was in love with the ukulele. He introduced the instrument into the Hawaiian music of that time, providing the instrument the backing of the royalty. This move made the ukulele an inseparable part of the Hawaiian music tradition.

While the popularity of the ukulele began to vane with the start of rock and roll in the 1950s, it has made a successful comeback in modern times. Ukulele sales saw a sharp spike in the United States between 2009 and 2018. Figures by Statista show that 1.77 million ukulele were sold in the US from 2009 to 2018. The popularity of the ukulele is expected to rise in the coming years.