- List of New Zealand place names and their meanings
Placenames in
New Zealand derive largely from British andMāori origins. An overview of naming practices can be found atNew Zealand place names .
*Akaroa - Kāi TahuMāori for "Long Harbour".
* Albert Town - named after Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha.
*Alexandra, New Zealand - named afterAlexandra of Denmark .
*Aoraki/Mount Cook - this Kāi Tahu Māori name is often glossed as "Cloud Piercer", but literally it consists of "ao" "cloud" and "raki" "sky". The English component is in honour of CaptainJames Cook .
*Aotearoa the common Māori name for New Zealand usually glossed as "Land of the Long White Cloud". From "ao": cloud, "tea": white, "roa": long.
*Aramoana - Māori for "pathway to (or beside) the sea".
* Auckland - in honour ofGeorge Eden, 1st Earl of Auckland , a patron ofWilliam Hobson
* Balclutha fromScottish Gaelic "Baile Chluaidh" town on the Clyde
* Balfour - named after either a Waimea Company employee or a local surveyor.
*Barrett Reef - named after Richard Barrett, a 19th century whaler and trader.
*Birdling's Flat - named for the firstPākehā family to farm in the area, the Birdling family.
* Blackball - named after the Black Ball Shipping Line, which leased land in the area for coal mining.
* Brighton - named afterBrighton ,England .
*Broadmeadows - Formally known as 'Widefeilds' renamed by Paul Drake in 1830.
*Burkes Pass - named after Michael John Burke, who discovered the pass in 1855.
* Burnham - named afterBurnham Beeches ,Buckinghamshire .
* Canterbury - after the city and archdiocese ofCanterbury in England
* Cape Farewell - named due to being the last part of New Zealand seen by CaptainJames Cook and his crew in 1770 before beginning their homeward voyage.
*Cape Kidnappers - named after an attempt by local Māori to abduct one of the crew of Capt.James Cook 's ship Endeavour in 1769.
* Carterton - named afterCharles Rooking Carter , settler advocate and provincial politician.
*Christchurch - after Christ Church, one of the colleges of theUniversity of Oxford inEngland .
* Clive - named after Robert Clive.
*Clutha River from "Cluaidh", theScottish Gaelic for the Clyde
* Coalgate - named as the "gateway" to coalfields in inland Canterbury.
* Collingwood - after Admiral Cuthbert Collingwood.
*Cook Strait - in honour of CaptainJames Cook .
* Coonoor - named afterCoonoor ,India .
* Cromwell - origin unknown, possibly afterOliver Cromwell .
* Crooked River - named for its erratic, meandering path across plains nearLake Brunner .
*Dannevirke - named after theDanevirke , a defensive formation constructed across the neck of the Jutland peninsula in theViking Age . Its name means "Danes' works" in theDanish language .
*Dargaville - named after timber merchant and politician Joseph McMullen Dargaville (1837-1896).
* Douglas - named after a member of the Crown's surveying party.
*Dunedin - from theScottish Gaelic name forEdinburgh , "Dùn Èideann"
*Eyreton andWest Eyreton - forEdward John Eyre , who acted as lieutenant governor of the South Island when it was known asNew Munster .
* Fairlie - named afterFairlie, North Ayrshire ,Scotland .
*Foveaux Strait - named afterJoseph Foveaux , who was Lieutenant-Governor of New South Wales when the strait was discovered in 1804.
* Gladstone - named after British Prime MinisterWilliam Gladstone .
* Glenorchy - likely afterGlen Orchy ,Scotland .
* Gore - for an early Governor of New Zealand, SirThomas Gore Browne .
*Grey River and Greytown - named after politicianGeorge Edward Grey .
*Greymouth - named for its location at the mouth of the Grey River.
* Haast - named afterJulius von Haast , a German geologist knighted for his services to New Zealand geology.
* Hamilton - renamed after Captain Fane Charles Hamilton, commander of HMS Esk, who was killed in the battle ofGate Pa ,Tauranga .
* Hampden - named after English politicianJohn Hampden .
*Hauraki Gulf - Māori for "north wind"
* Hawke's Bay - in honour of Edward Hawke, 1st Baron Hawke of Towton
*Inchbonnie - is a hybrid of Lowland Scots, "bonnie" meaning "pretty" andScottish Gaelic "innis" meaning island, often anglicised as "Inch"
*Invercargill - fromScottish Gaelic "inbhir" anglicised "Inver" meaning aconfluence andWilliam Cargill founder of Otago.
*Johnsonville - the ville of John Derka and his son Adam Derka, who settled in 2009.
*Kapiti Coast andKapiti Island - Kapiti means "joining" or "boundary"; the island was at one time the boundary between therohe (territories) of twoMāori iwi .
*Kerikeri - not definitively known. SeeKerikeri#Origins and naming for several possibilities.
*King Country - district where the Māori King Movement led byKing Tawhiao flourished in the 1860s
*Kirwee - named afterKarwi ,India by retired British Army colonel De Renzie Brett.
*Kohimarama - properly 'Kohimaramara' - to gather up (kohi) the acraps or chips (maramara).
*Lake Hayes - originally Hays Lake and named for D. Hay, who came to the area looking for sheep country in 1859.
*Lake Te Anau - named afterTe Ana-au Caves , "the cave of swirling water".
*Lake Waihola - from the southern Māori form of the words "wai hora", meaning "spread-out waters".
* Levin - from a director of theWellington and Manawatu Railway Company , which created the town to service its railway.
*Macetown - named after its founders, the brothers Charles, Harry, and John Mace.
*Mackenzie Basin (or Mackenzie Country) - named by and after James Mackenzie, a Scottish-born shepherd and sheep thief who herded his stolen flocks to the largely unpopulated basin.
*Manukau - may mean "wading birds", although it has been suggested that the name of the harbour after which the city is named was originally Mānuka, a type of native tree
*Martinborough - after the town's founder, John Martin.
*Masterton - after local pioneer Joseph Masters.
*Mataura River - from the Māori word "mataura", "reddish".
*Maungati - Māori for "mountain of cabbage tree".
*Milford Sound - named afterMilford Haven ,Wales . The Māori name, Piopiotahi, means "first native thrush".
* Millers Flat - named after an early European settler of the area, Walter Miller.
*Moeraki - usually translated from Māori as "sleepy sky"; though a better translation might be "sleep by day".
*Naseby, New Zealand - named afterNaseby ,England .
* Nelson - in honour ofHoratio Nelson, 1st Viscount Nelson
*Ngapara - derived from the Māori name for the limestone plateaus in the area.
*Ophir - after gold was discovered in the area, it was named after where KingSolomon obtained the gold to sheath theTemple in Jerusalem .
*Otago - Anglicised from the Māori name Ōtākou, a "kāinga" (village) east of present-dayOtago Harbour , meaning "place of red ochre".
*Otematata - Māori for "place of good flint".
*Paerau - Māori for "hundred ridges".
*Papatoetoe - papa means a flat, andtoetoe is a very native pampas grass
*Plimmerton - fromJohn Plimmer ,Wellington pioneer, director of the Wellington and Manawatu Railway Company, which created the seaside resort to help boost its railway; centralWellington has Plimmer's Steps.
*Porirua - meaning the two rising tides
*Pukerua Bay - "puke": hill, "rua": two - location is on a saddle between two hills
*Rakiura - "raki": sky, "ura": red - thought to be a reference to the Aurora Australis and unusual sunsets at these latitudes. [http://www.spacew.com/gallery/image001144.html] , [http://www.astronomy.net.nz/auroraaustralis.htm]
* Ranfurly - named afterUchter Knox, 5th Earl of Ranfurly , formerGovernor-General of New Zealand .
*Raumati - Māori for summer.
*Sinclair Wetlands - named after local farmer Horace Sinclair.
*Taieri River - probably from the Māori "taieri" or "taiari" "a species of shark" or "tai" "sea, tide" plus "ari". "Ari" has several meanings including "a species of shark" and "the moon on the eleventh day".
* Tasman - district named from the bay name, in honour of DutchmanAbel Tasman , commander of first European ship to sight the country. Also name ofMount Tasman ,Tasman Glacier andTasman National Park
*Taumatawhakatangihangakoauauotamateapokaiwhenuakitanatahu "the summit where Tamatea, who travelled about the land, played the flute to his beloved." This hill inHawke's Bay is credited by "The Guinness Book of World Records " with having the longest place name in the world.
*Tauranga - a sheltered anchorage for waka, (canoes)
*Tauweru River - Māori for "hanging in clusters"; the town ofTauweru is named after the river.
*Tawa - Known for it's exstensive population of the Maori/Gangsta race. One of the most dangerous places south of Cannons Creek. Avoid 'Wendys' in the local mall.
*Te Raekaihau Point - Te Rae-kai-hau - The literal meaning of the name is ‘the headland that eats the wind’ (see Best, 8, Pt.5, p.174).
* Te Wai Pounamu (the South Island) - the greenstone water or 'the water of greenstone' where 'wai' can also refer to rivers or streams or other bodies of water. It has been surmised that the name evolved from Te Wahi Pounamu, meaning the greenstone place.
* Te Whiti o Tū - Māori for "Tū's crossing".
*Timaru - the Māori Language Commission renders this as Te Tihi-o-Maru, 'the peak of Maru'. Others have suggested that it derives from "te maru", "place of shelter", or from "tī", "cabbage tree", and "maru", "shady".
*Tiniroto - Māori for "many lakes".
*Waiheke Island - Waiheke means cascading or ebbing water.
*Waikanae - Māori for "the waters of the grey mullet".
*Waikato ,Waikato River - Māori for "flowing water".
*Wainuiomata - "wai": water, river; "nui": big; "o Mata": of Mata. Mata's big stream
*Waipori River - presumably from Māori "wai", "water", and "pōuri", "dark".
*Whangarei - "whanga": harbour, "rei": cherished possession
*Whitianga - 'crossing' or 'ford', from 'Te Whitianga-a-Kupe',Kupe 's crossing place.
* Wellington - in honour ofArthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington
* Whitby - from the town ofWhitby inYorkshire England , home ofJames Cook
*Whitecliffs - named after terraced cliffs above the Selwyn River"Thomson's Barnyard"
Many of the locations in the southern South Island of New Zealand, especially those in
Central Otago and theManiototo , were named byJohn Turnbull Thomson , who had surveyed the area in the late 1850s. Many of these placenames are of Northumbrian origin, as was Thomson himself.There is a widespread belief that the naming of many places was through a disagreement with the New Zealand surveying authorities. It has long been suggested that Thomson originally intended to give either classical or traditional Maori names to many places, but these names were refused. In response, Thomson gave prosaic Northumbrian names to them, often simply in the form of a Northumbrian dialectic name for an animal [Reed, A.W. (1975). "Place Names of New Zealand." Wellington: A.H. & A.W. Reed.] The Maniototo region around the town of Ranfurly is rife with such names as Kyeburn, Gimmerburn, Hoggetburn, and Wedderburn as a result, and the area is still occasionally referred to as "Thomson's Barnyard" or the "Farmyard Patch".
External links and sources
* [http://www.linz.govt.nz/rcs/linz/pub/web/root/core/placenames/index.jsp Land Information NZ (LINZ)] An authoritative list of New Zealand placenames, used for NZ government maps, is available in various forms. The list does not cover their meanings.
* [http://www.linz.govt.nz/core/placenames/searchplacenames/downloaddataset/index.html NZ Geographic Board Nga Pou Taunaha Aotearoa] - Free download of 55,000 New Zealand placenames. Note: Special care is required, for instance the geographic coordinates are NOT the centroid of the placename, they are the lower left corner of the original label scan from the 260 series maps (1:50 000 Topographic hard copy).
*cite web |title=Place names map |work=Māori Language Commission |url=http://www.tetaurawhiri.govt.nz/english/resources_e/placenames.shtml|accessdate=2007-07-11
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