ukulele e cavaquinho

The Hawaiian Islands have an instrument very similar to the cavaquinho, called the ʻukulele, which is considered to be based on the machête or braguinha (variation on the cavaquinho), brought to the island by Portuguese immigrants. The Hawaiian ʻukulele also has four strings, though tuned differently (usually G-C-E-A), and a shape somewhat similar to the cavaquinho. The machête was introduced into Hawaiʻi by Augusto Dias, Manuel Nunes, and João Fernandes in 1879.

Além deste artigo, fica aqui mais coisas da wiki para distinguir cavaquinho e ukulele, para ninguém ser apanhado desprevenido numa estrada qualquer. Eu não li isso tudo, evidentemente. Fiquei só com o "very similar (...) tuned differently (...) shape somewhat similar". O resto são detalhes.
O Eddie Vedder tem um disco chamado ukulele songs.