Meaning and background
The story behind Hula
Hula is a Hawaiian dance word borrowed into English. Merriam-Webster describes rhythmic body movement and expressive hand gestures, often accompanied by chanting and percussion, and records English use from 1825. Those details provide a cultural dance association rather than a generic tropical meaning. Using Hula for a pet can refer to that specific art, while the dictionary evidence does not establish a traditional personal-name derivation.
- Association
- Hula is a Hawaiian dance word borrowed into English. Source
Try Hula out loud
Everyday moments“Hula, come here!”
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About Hula
Recorded as a dog’s name
Hula appears in 3 dog licence records in the 2026 New York City dataset.
How to read this count
These records cover New York City and may count the same dog in more than one licence period. They are not a national popularity ranking.
Pronunciation and rhythm
/hulə/
US English sound sequence, converted from the CMU dictionary. Stress marks are shown separately.
Stress on the first syllable in the recorded US readings.
View dictionary notation
/hulə/ · primary stress on syllable 1HH UW1 L AH0
These are US dictionary readings. Personal, regional and other language pronunciations may differ.
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Sources and research notes (2)
- New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene NYC Dog Licensing Dataset — extract_year 2026 — Dog licence periods, not unique dogs; NYC only. No owner-level fields retrieved.
- Carnegie Mellon University / CMU Sphinx maintainers CMU US English Pronouncing Dictionary — US English dictionary readings; not owner-specific or exhaustive multilingual pronunciation
References support the individual facts shown. A source link does not mean the entire profile has been verified.