Origin: Arabic, Latin, Hawaiian

Meaning: first leap or firstborn; winglet; hasten, hurry

Gender: Female

Alula is a name that has a lot of origins and quite a few meanings. In Arabic, it’s either first leap or firstborn. In Latin, it comes from ala, meaning wing, and alula is its diminutive, meaning winglet; alulae is its plural form. Alula is the name referred to a part of a bird’s wing, which has 3 to 5 small wing feathers depending on the species and helps the birds navigate through the air. Alula (or Ōlulu) is also what the Brighamia insignia is commonly referred to, a critically endangered plant species unique to Hawaii. It’s also a word in Chamarro, a Malayo-Polynesian language spoken in Guam but which is in danger of becoming extinct; it means to hasten, hurry. I’ve also seen it written as alulaye, which I think is a plural form of the word but I’m not sure on that.


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