The two-player boardgame Kahuna has a Polynesian archipelago with some amateurishly named islands. The names are just four-letter words, each starting with a unique letter in sequence: A (Aloa), B (Bari), C (Coco), D (Duda). Polynesian languages typically are written using the letter ‘k’, but there’s Coco (perhaps inspired by coconut?). Aloa looks like it was inspired by aloha and Kahu by Kahuna.
I went through the great POLLEX database (Polynesian Lexicon) looking for potential etymons.
Aloa [Pukapuka < Malayo-Polynesian qarofa.] Love, pity.
Bari [Fijian < Fijic pali.] Action of waves on a rock face.
Coco [Marquesas, Nukuoro, Tuamotu & West Futuna koko < Oceanic kokoo.] To cluck like a hen, to crow like a rooster.
Duda [< Kapingamarangi & Nukuoro dudu < Central Polynesian tutu.] To set fire to.
Elai {not attested}
Faaa [< Tahitian faaai.] An ornament put in the ear
Gola [West Uvea gola < Nuclear Polynesian ko-lua.] You (second-person dual preposed pronoun).
Huna [Hawaian < Austronesian funa, “hide, conceal.”] Hidden; secret.
Iffi {not attested}
Jojo {not attested}
Kahu [Maori < Malayo-Polynesian.] Garment.
Lale {not attested}
Where there was more than one choice, I picked the most common form (the reconstruction with the most reflexes, ignoring outlier reconstructions).
The name Duda suggests dadaism, which is appropriate given this approach to naming.
(For a better use of POLLEX, check out Muna Lingi.)
