Captain James Cook's map of New Zealand, showing a mixture of Māori names and names Cook bestowed himself
Most New Zealand place names have a Māori or a British origin. Both groups used names to commemorate notable people, events, places from their homeland, and their ships, or to describe the surrounding area. It is unknown whether Māori had a name for the whole of New Zealand before the arrival of Europeans, but post-colonisation the name Aotearoa (commonly translated as 'long white cloud') has been used to refer to the whole country. Dutch cartographers named the islands Nova Zeelandia, the Latin translation of the Dutch Nieuw Zeeland (after the Dutch province of Zeeland). By the time of British exploration, the country's name was anglicised to New Zealand.
Many of the early Māori names were replaced by Europeans during the late 18th and early 19th centuries. Government amendments in 1894 and the establishment of the New Zealand Geographic Board in the mid-1940s led to the encouragement of original Māori names, although differing spellings and anglicised pronunciations persisted. Many names now have alternative or dual English and Māori names or, in a few rare cases, dual Māori names or dual English names. Most names have never been made official, but if they are mentioned in authoritative publications they are considered recorded names. Colloquial names in New Zealand result from an ironic view of the place's entertainment value, or plays on advertising mottos, or are shortened versions of the full name. Some places tried to capitalise on the success of The Lord of the Rings films by linking themselves to the movies.
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Most NewZealandplacenames have a Māori or a British origin. Both groups used names to commemorate notable people, events, places from their homeland...
Some official placenames in NewZealand are dual names, usually incorporating both the Māori placename and the original name given by European settlers...
Placenames in NewZealand derive largely from British and Māori origins. An overview of naming practices can be found at NewZealandplacenames. Ahuroa –...
list of places in NewZealand with reduplicated names, often as a result of the grammatical rules of the Māori language from which many of the names derive...
list of NewZealandplacesnamed by James Cook. Cook was the first European navigator to circumnavigate and chart the archipelago. He chose names from dull...
norm. The NewZealand Geographic Board discovered in 2009 that the names of the North Island and South Island had never been formalised, and names and alternative...
toponomastics is the study of toponyms (proper names of places, also known as placenames and geographic names), including their origins, meanings, usage...
The flag of NewZealand, also known as the NewZealand Ensign, is based on the British maritime Blue Ensign – a blue field with the Union Jack in the canton...
British-derived toponyms. NewZealandplacenames derive mostly from Maori and from British sources. The Maori named most of NewZealand's natural features. When...
Aotearoa (Māori: [aɔˈtɛaɾɔa]) is the Māori-language name for NewZealand. The name was originally used by Māori in reference only to the North Island,...
is a list of places with reduplication in their names, often as a result of the grammatical rules of the languages from which the names are derived. Duplicated...
charged words, as well as placenames of unorthodox spelling and pronunciation, including especially short or long names. These names often have an unintended...
Island Port Ross Campbell Island Scottish NewZealander "Scottish PlaceNames - Christchurch, NewZealand". rampantscotland.com. "Bryndwr and Burnside"...
organising parades and/or rallies to promote and protect workers’ rights. In NewZealand, Labour Day (Māori: Te Ra o Reipa) is a public holiday held on the fourth...
The NewZealand national cricket team (Māori: tīmi kirikiti a-motu o Aotearoa) represents NewZealand in men's international cricket. Nicknamed the Black...
of NewZealand encompass the gender, ethnic, religious, geographic, and economic backgrounds of the 5.2 million people living in NewZealand. New Zealanders...
This is a list of long placenames. Krungthepmahanakhon Amonrattanakosin Mahintharayutthaya Mahadilokphop Noppharatratchathaniburirom Udomratchaniwetmahasathan...
example, NewZealand's Mount Maunganui is tautological since "maunganui" is Māori for "great mountain". The following is a list of placenames often used...
following is a list of islands of NewZealand. The two largest islands – where most of the population lives – have names in both English and in the Māori...
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