Māori Names

Anahera is a Māori feminine given name derived from the transliteration of the English word angel. It entered the Māori lexicon through European contact and Christian missionary influence in the 19th century. Like many n...

Ānaru is both a given name and a surname in Māori culture. It is a phonetic transliteration of Andrew, brought to New Zealand by Christian missionaries in the 19th century. The Māori language adapts English names by repl...

Ariki is a Māori name meaning "chief" or "high-born leader." It directly derives from the traditional title ariki, which in Polynesian societies denotes a hereditary nobility or ruling class. The term is cognate with ari...

Aroha is a given name derived from the Māori word meaning "love." Cognate with the Hawaiian term aloha, it is a unisex name, though frequently used for females. The name carries deep cultural resonance within Māori commu...

Ata 3 is a feminine given name of Māori and Samoan origin, meaning "morning, dawn." In Polynesian cultures, dawn symbolizes new beginnings, hope, and the cycle of life, making the name deeply evocative of natural beauty...

Ātaahua is a Māori feminine given name that directly translates to "beautiful" in the Maori language. The name embodies a trait highly valued in Māori culture—the appreciation of physical and spiritual beauty, which is o...

Atarangi is a Māori feminine name meaning “morning sky,” from the elements ata (“morning”) and rangi (“sky”) in the Māori language. The name evokes the calm beauty of dawn, a time of day often associated with new beginni...

Atawhai is a Māori name meaning "kindness" in the Māori language. The name embodies the value of compassion and goodwill, which are central to Māori culture and ethics. Atawhai is used primarily as a feminine given name,...

Āwhina is a Māori female given name meaning “help, support” in the Māori language. The name reflects the cultural value of mutual assistance and community, which is central to Māori tradition. As a word name, Āwhina is a...

EtymologyHemi (also spelled Hēmi) is the Māori form of the name James. In Māori phonology, the name James is adapted as Hemi because Māori lacks the 'j' sound and often replaces it with h, while the vowel sequence is kep...

Hēnare is the Māori form of Henry, derived from the Germanic name Heimirich meaning "home ruler", from elements heim "home" and rih "ruler".EtymologyThe name Henry was adopted into Māori as Hēnare following European cont...

Hine is a Māori name that means "girl" in the Māori language. In Māori culture, names often reflect natural elements, qualities, or familial roles, and Hine is a straightforward term denoting a female child. The name app...

EtymologyHohepa is the Māori form of Joseph, a name of Hebrew origin meaning "he will add." The name is derived from the Hebrew root yasaf, meaning "to add, to increase." In the biblical context, Joseph is a key figure i...

Hone is a Māori given name and surname, primarily used as the Māori form of John. The name Hone (also spelled Hōne) is a transliteration of the English name John into the Māori language, reflecting the historical adaptat...

Etymology Huhana (or Hūhana) is the Māori form of Susan, which itself derives from Susanna, ultimately from the Hebrew Shoshanna meaning “lily” or “rose.” The name entered Māori culture through Christian missionaries, wh...

Huia is a Māori feminine given name, derived from the name of an extinct bird, the huia (Heteralocha acutirostris), endemic to New Zealand's North Island. The huia was held in high esteem by Māori due to its distinctive...

Kahurangi is a feminine given name of Māori origin, derived from the name of a type of green gemstone found in New Zealand. The term "kahurangi" in Māori also means "sky blue", reflecting the color of the sky seen throug...

Kaitoa is a Māori male given name that directly translates to "warrior", embodying strength, courage, and martial prowess. The name reflects the deep cultural significance of the warrior tradition (toa) in Māori society,...

Kataraina is the Māori form of Katherine. It is used primarily in New Zealand, where Māori speakers have adapted European names to fit the phonetic patterns of the Māori language. The name Kataraina reflects the Māori te...

Kauri is a Māori masculine given name derived from the tree of the same name, specifically the New Zealand kauri (Agathis australis). The kauri is a majestic evergreen conifer native to New Zealand, known for its massive...

Kiri is a female given name with multiple cultural origins, notably in Māori where it means "skin of a tree or fruit" (specifically "skin," "bark," or "rind"). The name gained international recognition through New Zealan...

Kiritapu is a Māori female name with a deeply spiritual meaning, composed of the elements kiri ("skin") and tapu ("sacred"). The name thus translates to "sacred skin" and poetically denotes a "virgin" or "unmarried" woma...

Kiwa is a name of Māori and Polynesian origin, primarily known as the guardian of the ocean in Māori mythology. The name itself means "dark" or "black" in the Māori language, a fitting association with the deep, dark wat...

Koa is a Māori name meaning "happy" or "joy." In Māori culture, names often reflect the parents' hopes for the child, and Koa embodies a wish for a joyful and contented life. While the name has the same spelling as the H...

Maata is a Māori feminine name, an adaptation of the biblical name Martha. The name Martha is of Aramaic origin, derived from marta meaning "the lady, the mistress," the feminine form of mar ("master"). In the New Testam...

Mahina is a feminine name with roots in both Hawaiian and Māori cultures. It means "moon" or "month" in the Hawaiian language, where it derives from the word mahinameaning both "moon" and "moonlight" as well as "a farm"...

Māia is a Māori feminine given name meaning "brave, capable" in the Māori language. The name reflects traditional Māori values of strength, competence, and courage, often chosen to inspire or honor these qualities in a c...

Manaaki is a Māori male given name meaning "care, support". The name embodies the core Māori value of manaaki (hospitality, kindness, and looking after others), which is central to Māori culture and social interactions.N...

Manaia is a feminine Māori name derived from a stylized motif found in traditional Māori carving and tattooing. The Manaia figure is a mythological being, typically depicted with the head of a bird, the body of a human,...

Manu 4 is a masculine given name meaning "bird" in several Polynesian languages, including Hawaiian, Māori, Tahitian, and Tongan. The name reflects the cultural significance of birds in Polynesian societies, where they o...

Marama is a feminine given name of Māori and Polynesian origin. In the Māori language, the word marama means "moon, month", reflecting a deep cultural connection to celestial bodies. In Māori mythology, Marama is the nam...

Etymology and Origin Mere is the Māori and Fijian form of Mary, originating as a transliteration of the name into these Polynesian languages. In the Māori language, 'Mere' directly corresponds to 'Mary', adapting the sou...

Mikaere is the Māori form of Michael. The name Michael ultimately derives from the Hebrew מִיכָאֵל (Mikha'el), meaning "who is like God?" – a rhetorical question emphasizing that no one compares to the divine. In the Bib...

Miriama is a feminine given name that appears in several distinct cultural contexts—as a Fijian and Māori form of Miriam, and as a Slovak variant of the same name. The name ultimately derives from the Hebrew Miriam, itse...

Moana is a given name and a renowned princely line in Hawaiian history, deeply tied to the land and ocean that holds the power of life. The name itself derives from the Polynesian word for 'ocean', 'wide expanse of water...

Ngahuia is a Māori female given name that carries deep cultural and natural significance. The name means "the huia birds" in Māori, combining ngā, the plural definite article meaning "the", with huia, the name of an exti...

Ngaio is a female given name of Māori origin, derived from the name of a native New Zealand tree known botanically as Myoporum laetum. Commonly called the mousehole tree or ngaio tree in English, the plant is found throu...

Ngaire is a feminine given name of Māori origin, primarily used in New Zealand. Its etymology is uncertain but most likely derived from the place name Ngaere, a town in the Taranaki region of New Zealand's North Island....

Nīkau is a Māori name derived from the nīkau palm (Rhopalostylis sapida), a native tree species endemic to New Zealand and the only palm that grows naturally on the mainland. The name itself reflects deep-rooted cultural...

Nikora is a Māori form of both Nicholas and Nicole, used as a gender-neutral name in New Zealand. While the English Wikipedia entry mainly describes a village in Gujarat, India, the name as a Māori personal name derives...

Paora is a Māori form of the name Paul, adopted through transliteration. The original Latin name Paulus means "small" or "humble," and is famously associated with Saint Paul, the early Christian missionary whose teaching...

Patariki is the Māori form of the internationally widespread name Patrick. As a result of 19th-century Christian missionary activity and subsequent cultural exchange, many European names were adapted into the Māori langu...

Petera is a Māori form of Peter. The name Peter derives from the Greek Πέτρος (Petros), meaning “stone,” a translation of the Aramaic name Cephas, given by Jesus to the apostle Simon (see Matthew 16:18 and John 1:42). As...

Piripi is the Māori form of Philip, a name of Greek origin. It is pronounced PEE-ree-pee and has been used as both a given name and a surname within Māori communities.EtymologyLike its source name Philip, Piripi derives...

Rangi (also known as Te Rangi) is a Māori given name meaning "sky." In Māori and other Polynesian mythologies, Rangi (or Ranginui) is the sky father, a primordial god who, together with the earth mother Papa (Papatūānuku...

Rangimārie is a Māori feminine name meaning "peaceful, calm". The name is composed of rangi, referring to the sky or heavens, and mārie, meaning peace or tranquility. Thus, Rangimārie can be interpreted as "heavenly peac...

Rāwiri is the Māori form of David, a name of Hebrew origin meaning "beloved" or "uncle". In Māori culture, names are adapted to fit the phonological system of the language, which uses a subset of consonants and avoids co...

Roimata is a feminine name of Māori origin, directly meaning "teardrop" in Maori. The name derives from the Māori word roimata, which refers to a drop of tears, evoking deep emotion, compassion, or spiritual cleansing. I...

Ruiha is the Māori form of Louisa, which itself is the Latinate feminine variant of Louis. In the Māori language, the name is adapted through transliteration, where the English sounds are mapped to Māori phonological equ...

Taine is a variant of Tāne, the Māori god of forests and light. In Māori mythology, Tāne is a central figure who separated his parents, the sky god Rangi (Ranginui) and the earth goddess Papa (Papatuanuku), who were lock...

Tama is a Māori masculine name meaning "son, boy" in the Māori language. It reflects a cultural tradition of naming children after positive attributes or familial roles, directly linking a child's name to their identity...

Tamati is the Māori transliteration of the name Thomas, reflecting the adaptation of biblical and European names into the Māori language. As a form of Thomas, it shares the same origin: the Aramaic root meaning "twin," t...

Tāne is a masculine name of Māori (Polynesian) origin, meaning "man." In Māori cosmology, Tāne (also known as Tāne-mahuta or Tāne-nui-a-Rangi) is the god of forests, birds, and light. He is a son of the sky father Rangi...

Teariki is a Māori masculine given name, primarily used in New Zealand and the Cook Islands. It is a variant of the name Te Ariki, which means "the chief" in Māori, derived from te ("the") and ariki ("chief"). The name r...

EtymologyTe Ariki is a Māori masculine given name that translates directly as "the chief." It is formed from the definite article te ("the") and ariki ("chief" or "lord"). In traditional Māori society, an ariki was a per...

Te Rangi is a Māori name meaning "the sky," derived from the words te ("the") and rangi ("sky"). It is closely related to the name Rangi, which in Polynesian mythology refers to the sky father, often paired with Papa-tū-...

Timoti is the Māori form of Timothy, derived from the English name which itself comes from the Greek Τιμόθεος (Timotheos), meaning "honouring God" — from τιμάω (timao) "to honour" and θεός (theos) "God". Etymology and Hi...

Tipene is a Māori masculine given name and surname, representing the Māori form of Stephen. The name reflects the adaptation of European names into Māori phonology, where the English /s/ sound becomes /t/ due to the abse...

Toa is a masculine given name of Māori origin meaning "warrior" or "brave person." In Māori culture, the word toa carries deep significance, associated with martial prowess, courage, and leadership. It is commonly used a...

Origin and MeaningTui is a Māori name of feminine gender, derived from the name of a bird native to New Zealand, the tūī (Prosthemadera novaeseelandiae). The tūī is a passerine bird known for its striking iridescent plum...