New Zealand Place Names: Common, Contested and Curious Names from Aotearoa to Zalatown by Peter Dowling & A.W. Reed

From Aotearoa to Zalatown, Whanganui to Whangārei, Cape Reinga Te Rerenga Wairua to Bluff, New Zealand Place Names is a treasure trove of names. It details the name, feature type, region, history, origin and meaning of over 850 places. Plus, if you’ve ever wondered what our shortest or longest place name is, you’ll find it here!

Whether you call it Aotearoa or New Zealand, our country carries a unique history. Unlike many parts of the world, we can often say exactly who named a place and what it means, due to comparatively recent settlement and historical records.

“Place names speak to collective and personal identity and links to the land, so it is no wonder they excite passion. Recent spats over the spelling of Wanganui or Whanganui or whether to use Aotearoa in place of New Zealand follow a long line of controversies: in the 1920s to 1940s it was whether the Tongariro River should be called the Upper Waikato, and thereafter the battle to keep the apostrophe in Arthur’s Pass,” says author, Peter Dowling.

“Whatever their origin, and whether or not you agree with all of the explanations collected over the years, I hope that this book will shed some light on our shared past and help sustain the living fossils that light up the land and waters of this new sea land, land of the long white cloud.” 

The vast majority of our place names derive from either Māori or English, with older Polynesian names from Tahiti and Rarotonga. Prolific name givers include the first Polynesian and European navigators to sail around Aotearoa New Zealand, Kupe and Captain James Cook. 

The sections on naming controversies and prolific namers are especially engaging, highlighting the layered interplay of te reo Māori, colonial histories and contemporary reclamation. 

Produced with the help of Ngā Pou Taunaha o Aotearoa New Zealand Geographic Board and based on the official New Zealand Gazetteer, New Zealand Place Names draws on the latest information. It is based on the lifetime’s research of the late A.W. Reed.  New Zealand Place Names includes useful maps, glossaries and information on how to get a place named.

Reviewer: Andrea Molloy

Oratia