Hullabaloo is believed to have its origin in hallo plus balloo, a Scottish interjection used to hush children. Hullabaloo first appeared in print in the 1760s, more than a century after the synonymous uproar had made its way from Dutch into English, and hubbub (meaning "uproar; noise; confusion") was believed to have traveled from a Celtic tongue into English. Hubbub, hullabaloo, and uproar joined din, one of the oldest words in our language and one whose Old English ancestor is thought to be linguistically akin to a Sanskrit term meaning "it roars."

It took another hundred plus years, but in the late 1800s, similar words once again crowded the field. Ruckus, probably a blend of ruction and rumpus, and denoting "row" or "disturbance," was first attested in 1890, followed by brouhaha—which may have its origin in a Hebrew phrase from the Book of Psalms.