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Help[Facts] Maori name corrections - meanings
Hi, I posted some months ago (I hadn't noticed that anyone replied to me - https://www.behindthename.com/bb/test/5588251). Thank you though.
It made me think that maybe I should make list of meanings that can be added to names. So here is a long list of Māori meanings and some corrections of Māori names.
Airini - Māori form of Irene
Aora - from ora meaning "life", or from ao "world" and rā "sun". (I haven't actually seen this name on a person)
Arepa - Māori translation of Alpha
Areora - from 'are' meaning "to open" and 'ora' meaning "life". Perhaps confused with 'aroha e ora' which means "love and life".
Eraina - Māori form of Elaine
Harete - Māori form of Charlotte
Hikairo - means "to ascend"
Hikatarewa - from hika meaning "friend" and "kindling fire", and tārewa meaning "to lift, suspend"
Hikawera - means "warm fire" in Māori
Hirini - Māori form of Sidney
Hokianga - means "return, origin"
Ihirangi - means "dawn"
Iriaka - means "hanging vine". Also Māori form of Cyriac.
Iritana - Māori form of Edith
Inia - Māori form of India
Itu - from i meaning "with, by" and tū meaning "stand"
Kaiora - from koiora meaning "life" or from kai-ora meaning "health"
Kataraina - Māori form of Katherine
Keita - Māori form of Kate
Keriata - Māori form of Christiana
Kiritapu - means "sacred skin, virgin" in Māori
Koia - means "indeed, well done" in Maori. It is also the name of a Papuan tribe.
Koronui - "great wise man" and "large cove"
Maiea - means "to rise up"
Māreikura - "esteemed friend" and "nobly born female" aka princess/lady
Matai - from mataī meaning "black pine", a native tree in New Zealand. Or from mātai meaning "ocean" and "study".
Meretini - means "plentiful greenstone weapons" and "esteemed" in Māori, from meremere which means "greenstone weapon" and "venus evening star", and tini meaning "plentiful".
Metiria - from me "must" and tiria "share, cultivate", or me te rearea meaning "how beautiful" in Māori.
Nanaia - means "to nurse, to tend to"
Nataria - Māori form of Natalia
Ngāhuia - means "many huia" in Māori. See Huia.
Owai - o wai means "from water"
Omeka - Māori form of Omega.
Oriini - from ori meaning "move about, sway" and "bad weather" in Māori. Orini is a stream in the Bay of Plenty. Oriini is also a type of bug in the family Anthocoridae.
Paerau - means "meeting place of the dead"
Paraire - Māori translation of Friday. Also means "restraint" in Māori.
Paraiti - Māori form of Bridget. Pirihita is another Māori form of Bridget. Paraiti means "blight" Māori. It's the name of a character played by actress Rachel House.
Parariki - incorrect translation. Parariki comes from para "sediment, ground" and riki "small".
Patukawenga - from patu "weapon, kill" and kawenga "burden" (not to be confused with pātū which means wall)
Patutai - from patu meaning "weapon, kill" and tai meaning "tide, coast" or "friend". So weapon tide or friend killer?
Piupiu - pee-yoo-pee-yoo - Is a garment made of flax and means "to wave about" in Māori. It is also type of fern native to New Zealand.
Rahiri - from rāhiri meaning "to welcome, respect". Also Māori form of Russell
Raiha - Māori form of Eliza
Ramari - obscure name found in Tūhoe genealogy. Possible meaning is "lucky day" - from Rā "day, sun" and Waimarie meaning "luck".
Rangimoana - from rangi "sky" and moana "ocean"
Raukura - means "treasured feather"
Rawinia - Māori form of Lavinia
Reremoana - means "water flowing to the sea" from rere "flow" and moana "sea"
Te Ori - means "the bad weather"
Tahu - god of food and feasts, means "to cook", also means "sweetheart" in Māori.
Taine - Alternative spelling of Tāne "man" or Teina "brother".
Taini - from taininihi meaning "neap tide". Also a loan word from English meaning "tiny".
Tākuta - "doctor, medicine man"
Tangiora - means "mourning life"
Tamirangi - from tāmi "smother, quashing" and rangi "sky", or a variant of Tamairangi
Tōmairangi - means "dew" in Maori.
Tamairangi - Variant of Tōmairangi, meaning "dew", or as compound name Tama-i-rangi meaning "son in heaven".
Tamatia - Variant of Tamatea, or from tama meaning "boy" and tia meaning "servant".
Taraia - from tāraia meaning "to sculpt"
Taurau - from tau "cord" and rau "blade"
Taurekareka - means "servant, enslaved" in Māori.
Teanau - from te "the" and ānau "restless"
Tewakepare - from te waka pare meaning "protected canoe", from waka "canoe" and pare "protect".
Te Poki - means "the fox" from te pōkiha, te poki also refers to land used for cultivating.
Tūariki - means "standing chief" from tū "stand" and ariki "chief" (not to be confused with Teariki and Tuaraki, those are different names)
The Cook Island name Teariki/Te Ariki - te ariki means "the chief". It's also a NZ Māori name.
Tuari - Māori form of Stuart
Tūriarangi - from tūria meaning "journey" and rangi meaning "sky"
Tūroa - means "enduring"
Tūterangi - from tū te rangi meaning "hold the sky"
Wiramina - Māori form of Wilhelmina
Wirihita - from wiri meaning "flock, tremble" and hita meaning "to move". Also Māori form of Whitaker.
Wiki - means week but also Māori form of Vicky.
Also Ahorā, Kiwa, Kaea, Hawaiki, and Tāwera are double listed. Karne, Neihanna, Tinaya are not correct Maori spellings. Karne is likely a bad spelling of Kane and Tinaya a NZ English spelling of Tineia.
All other names I haven't mentioned are correct (as far as I know).
It would be nice for those of Polynesian ancestry to have better sources because some baby name sites are awful when it comes to translations. And I feel like this website has to most accurate info even though it could be better when it comes to Polynesian names.
Ngā mihi. Thank you!
It made me think that maybe I should make list of meanings that can be added to names. So here is a long list of Māori meanings and some corrections of Māori names.
Airini - Māori form of Irene
Aora - from ora meaning "life", or from ao "world" and rā "sun". (I haven't actually seen this name on a person)
Arepa - Māori translation of Alpha
Areora - from 'are' meaning "to open" and 'ora' meaning "life". Perhaps confused with 'aroha e ora' which means "love and life".
Eraina - Māori form of Elaine
Harete - Māori form of Charlotte
Hikairo - means "to ascend"
Hikatarewa - from hika meaning "friend" and "kindling fire", and tārewa meaning "to lift, suspend"
Hikawera - means "warm fire" in Māori
Hirini - Māori form of Sidney
Hokianga - means "return, origin"
Ihirangi - means "dawn"
Iriaka - means "hanging vine". Also Māori form of Cyriac.
Iritana - Māori form of Edith
Inia - Māori form of India
Itu - from i meaning "with, by" and tū meaning "stand"
Kaiora - from koiora meaning "life" or from kai-ora meaning "health"
Kataraina - Māori form of Katherine
Keita - Māori form of Kate
Keriata - Māori form of Christiana
Kiritapu - means "sacred skin, virgin" in Māori
Koia - means "indeed, well done" in Maori. It is also the name of a Papuan tribe.
Koronui - "great wise man" and "large cove"
Maiea - means "to rise up"
Māreikura - "esteemed friend" and "nobly born female" aka princess/lady
Matai - from mataī meaning "black pine", a native tree in New Zealand. Or from mātai meaning "ocean" and "study".
Meretini - means "plentiful greenstone weapons" and "esteemed" in Māori, from meremere which means "greenstone weapon" and "venus evening star", and tini meaning "plentiful".
Metiria - from me "must" and tiria "share, cultivate", or me te rearea meaning "how beautiful" in Māori.
Nanaia - means "to nurse, to tend to"
Nataria - Māori form of Natalia
Ngāhuia - means "many huia" in Māori. See Huia.
Owai - o wai means "from water"
Omeka - Māori form of Omega.
Oriini - from ori meaning "move about, sway" and "bad weather" in Māori. Orini is a stream in the Bay of Plenty. Oriini is also a type of bug in the family Anthocoridae.
Paerau - means "meeting place of the dead"
Paraire - Māori translation of Friday. Also means "restraint" in Māori.
Paraiti - Māori form of Bridget. Pirihita is another Māori form of Bridget. Paraiti means "blight" Māori. It's the name of a character played by actress Rachel House.
Parariki - incorrect translation. Parariki comes from para "sediment, ground" and riki "small".
Patukawenga - from patu "weapon, kill" and kawenga "burden" (not to be confused with pātū which means wall)
Patutai - from patu meaning "weapon, kill" and tai meaning "tide, coast" or "friend". So weapon tide or friend killer?
Piupiu - pee-yoo-pee-yoo - Is a garment made of flax and means "to wave about" in Māori. It is also type of fern native to New Zealand.
Rahiri - from rāhiri meaning "to welcome, respect". Also Māori form of Russell
Raiha - Māori form of Eliza
Ramari - obscure name found in Tūhoe genealogy. Possible meaning is "lucky day" - from Rā "day, sun" and Waimarie meaning "luck".
Rangimoana - from rangi "sky" and moana "ocean"
Raukura - means "treasured feather"
Rawinia - Māori form of Lavinia
Reremoana - means "water flowing to the sea" from rere "flow" and moana "sea"
Te Ori - means "the bad weather"
Tahu - god of food and feasts, means "to cook", also means "sweetheart" in Māori.
Taine - Alternative spelling of Tāne "man" or Teina "brother".
Taini - from taininihi meaning "neap tide". Also a loan word from English meaning "tiny".
Tākuta - "doctor, medicine man"
Tangiora - means "mourning life"
Tamirangi - from tāmi "smother, quashing" and rangi "sky", or a variant of Tamairangi
Tōmairangi - means "dew" in Maori.
Tamairangi - Variant of Tōmairangi, meaning "dew", or as compound name Tama-i-rangi meaning "son in heaven".
Tamatia - Variant of Tamatea, or from tama meaning "boy" and tia meaning "servant".
Taraia - from tāraia meaning "to sculpt"
Taurau - from tau "cord" and rau "blade"
Taurekareka - means "servant, enslaved" in Māori.
Teanau - from te "the" and ānau "restless"
Tewakepare - from te waka pare meaning "protected canoe", from waka "canoe" and pare "protect".
Te Poki - means "the fox" from te pōkiha, te poki also refers to land used for cultivating.
Tūariki - means "standing chief" from tū "stand" and ariki "chief" (not to be confused with Teariki and Tuaraki, those are different names)
The Cook Island name Teariki/Te Ariki - te ariki means "the chief". It's also a NZ Māori name.
Tuari - Māori form of Stuart
Tūriarangi - from tūria meaning "journey" and rangi meaning "sky"
Tūroa - means "enduring"
Tūterangi - from tū te rangi meaning "hold the sky"
Wiramina - Māori form of Wilhelmina
Wirihita - from wiri meaning "flock, tremble" and hita meaning "to move". Also Māori form of Whitaker.
Wiki - means week but also Māori form of Vicky.
Also Ahorā, Kiwa, Kaea, Hawaiki, and Tāwera are double listed. Karne, Neihanna, Tinaya are not correct Maori spellings. Karne is likely a bad spelling of Kane and Tinaya a NZ English spelling of Tineia.
All other names I haven't mentioned are correct (as far as I know).
It would be nice for those of Polynesian ancestry to have better sources because some baby name sites are awful when it comes to translations. And I feel like this website has to most accurate info even though it could be better when it comes to Polynesian names.
Ngā mihi. Thank you!
10
Replies
Hi, me again. I can't actually change the name meanings myself so I'm waiting for someone else who can actually edit the names.
For those asking for sources. Here are the best Māori sources regarding names: Te Aka Dictionary for translations, the same words can have different meanings though. O Nehera for a wonderful index of pre-colonisation Māori names onehera.waikato.ac.nz/pages/maori-names, although they don't have translations. And https://sooty.nz/Pakehamaori.html for Māori translations of English names.
I've seen lots of Hawaiian and Samoan names with no definitions or incorrect definitions too. So here are more sources: wehewehe.org is a good source for Hawaiian translations, and for Samoan translations www2.hawaii.edu/~leighj/SAMOAN/dictionary/ is the online Samoan-English dictionary.
I'd like to add Kaiora 'kai-ora' could also be interpreted as "life giver", and Taurau could also mean "settle, grab, take root" from tau and rarau.
Also any other Māori who have anything to add to the list of meanings, I would love to hear it.
Ngā mihi! Thank you!
For those asking for sources. Here are the best Māori sources regarding names: Te Aka Dictionary for translations, the same words can have different meanings though. O Nehera for a wonderful index of pre-colonisation Māori names onehera.waikato.ac.nz/pages/maori-names, although they don't have translations. And https://sooty.nz/Pakehamaori.html for Māori translations of English names.
I've seen lots of Hawaiian and Samoan names with no definitions or incorrect definitions too. So here are more sources: wehewehe.org is a good source for Hawaiian translations, and for Samoan translations www2.hawaii.edu/~leighj/SAMOAN/dictionary/ is the online Samoan-English dictionary.
I'd like to add Kaiora 'kai-ora' could also be interpreted as "life giver", and Taurau could also mean "settle, grab, take root" from tau and rarau.
Also any other Māori who have anything to add to the list of meanings, I would love to hear it.
Ngā mihi! Thank you!
1