Māori baby names and their meanings

Māori baby names and their meanings are easy to look up, because many of the names are everyday words: Aroha ‘love’, Moana ‘sea’, Māia ‘brave’, Nīkau ‘the native palm’, Ariki ‘high chief’. In the year to July 2026 the most popular Māori names registered in New Zealand were Māia for girls and Ariki for boys, according to Te Tari Taiwhenua, the Department of Internal Affairs. This guide gives that list, then names for girls, boys and either, grouped by meaning, each with its Te Aka Māori Dictionary meaning and how to say it, and the Māori forms of English names such as Wiremu and Hēmi.

Updated 17 October 2026 · 10 min read

Tap 🔊 to hear an example. Māori examples play Papa Reo, the te reo Māori voice made by Te Hiku Media from recordings of native speakers.

The most popular Māori baby names in New Zealand

Te Tari Taiwhenua, the Department of Internal Affairs (DIA), has published a list of the top Māori baby names since 2013. The latest, released on 9 July 2026, counts first and middle names registered between 19 June 2025 and 8 July 2026, dates DIA aligns with the Tangaroa period of the lunar calendar associated with Matariki. Spellings of one name are counted together, so Maia, Māia and Te Māia are one entry. The meanings are Te Aka’s.

Girls (kōtiro), 2025–26

	Name	Babies	Meaning
1	Māia (also Maia, Te Māia)	173	brave, bold, capable, confident
2	Aroha (also Te Aroha)	153	love, compassion, empathy
3	Moana (also Te Moana)	86	sea, ocean, large lake
4	Anahera (also Te Anahera)	68	angel; a loanword
5	Atarangi (also Te Atārangi, Te Ataarangi)	67	see below
6	Manaia	59	a stylised figure used in carving; also seahorse
7	Marama, Mārama (also Te Marama)	58	moon; light, clear (two words, see below)
8	Ātaahua (also Ataahua, Te Ataahua)	57	beautiful, lovely
9	Mei	52	May; a loanword
10	Māhina (also Mahina)	51	moon; early morning light

Boys (tama), 2025–26

	Name	Babies	Meaning
1	Ariki (also Āriki, Te Ariki)	144	paramount chief, high chief; first-born of a high-ranking family
2	Koa	105	glad, joyful, happy
3	Wiremu	88	William
4	Kahurangi (also Te Kahurangi)	74	precious, treasured; a person of high rank; blue
5	Kiwa	70	the Kiwa of Te Moana-nui-a-Kiwa, the Pacific
6	Rangi (also Te Rangi)	64	sky, day; the heavens
7	Rāwiri (also Rawiri)	62	David
8	Mikaere	62	Michael
9	Nīkau (also Nikau)	54	the nīkau, a native palm
10	Manaia	53	a stylised figure used in carving; also seahorse

Māia moved up from second place, and Aroha came second after three years at the top. Manaia is the one name in both top tens. The year before, 2024–25, Rangimārie ‘peace’ and Tūī were in the girls’ top ten, Manaaki in the boys’, and Rangi in both. Nīkau has a longer record: it was the most popular Māori boys’ name in DIA’s 2015 list and again in 2020.

How a name gets on the list: DIA takes every first and middle name spelt only with the Māori vowels and the consonants p, t, k, m, n, ng, wh, r, h and w, and ending in a vowel. The name must then be in an authoritative Māori dictionary (for a compound name, its parts must be), or be written with a macron. Names with more than one origin are removed, and the list is reviewed by DIA’s kaumātua group, Te Atamira Taiwhenua, and by Te Taura Whiri i te Reo Māori, the Māori Language Commission.

Māori girl names, boy names and names for either

Every name below has been on one of DIA’s published Māori lists, and is put under girls or boys according to the list it was on. The meanings, and how to say each name, are in the next section.

Girls: Māia, Aroha, Moana, Anahera, Atarangi, Marama, Ātaahua, Mei, Māhina, Rangimārie, Tūī, Āwhina, Te Ao.
Boys: Ariki, Koa, Wiremu, Kiwa, Rāwiri, Mikaere, Nīkau, Manaaki, Kaitoa, Kauri, Tai, Tangaroa, Tāne, Tama, Tāmati.
Either: Manaia (on both 2025–26 lists), Rangi (both lists in 2024–25), Kahurangi and Manawa (both lists in 2015).

A name’s meaning does not always decide which list it is on: Kahurangi is defined in Te Aka as a treasured possession and also as a lady of high rank, and it is fourth on the 2025–26 boys’ list. Two words for people do say girl or boy, hine ‘girl, daughter’ and tama ‘son, boy’, and they begin many compound names (see below).

Māori names and meanings, by theme

In the Say it column every vowel is its own syllable, except ai and au, which glide together. Say wh as f, ng as in singer, tap the r lightly, and hold a vowel with a macron for twice as long. The Māori pronunciation guide explains each sound.

The sky, the moon and light

Name	Meaning (Te Aka)	Say it	DIA list
Marama	moon; month	Ma-ra-ma	girls
Mārama	light, clear, bright; easy to understand	Mā-ra-ma	girls
Māhina	moon; early morning light, dawn; twilight	Mā-hi-na	girls
Rangi	sky, day; the heavens	Ra-ngi	girls and boys
Te Ao	the + ao: world, day, cloud; also to dawn	Te A-o	girls (2015)
Atarangi	No entry as one word. Ata is morning (also a reflection), rangi sky or day, and Te Aka has a separate word ātārangi ‘shadow’.	A-ta-ra-ngi	girls

The sea

Name	Meaning	Say it	DIA list
Moana	sea, ocean, large lake	Mo-a-na	girls
Kiwa	Te Aka has no entry for Kiwa as a name; Te Ara gives the Pacific Ocean as Te Moana-nui-a-Kiwa, ‘the great sea of Kiwa’	Ki-wa	boys
Tai	the sea, the coast; tide	Tai	boys (2015)
Tangaroa	the atua (god) of the sea and fish	Ta-nga-ro-a	boys (2015)

Trees, plants and carving

Name	Meaning (Te Aka)	Say it	DIA list
Nīkau	the nīkau, a native palm	Nī-kau	boys
Kauri	the kauri, the largest forest tree, found only in the northern North Island	Kau-ri	boys (2015)
Manaia	a stylised figure used in carving; also seahorse, lizard	Ma-nai-a	girls and boys

Birds

Tūī (Tū-ī) is the one bird name on the DIA lists quoted here: tenth for girls in 2023–24 and 2024–25, and twelfth in 2015. Te Aka describes the tūī as a songbird that imitates other birds’ calls, with glossy black plumage and two white tufts at the throat. The bird itself, and the other birds and animals with Māori names, are in Māori birds and animals.

Love, courage and other qualities

Name	Meaning (Te Aka)	Say it	DIA list
Aroha	love, compassion, empathy	A-ro-ha	girls
Māia	brave, bold, capable, confident	Mā-i-a	girls
Ātaahua	beautiful, handsome, lovely	Ā-ta-a-hu-a	girls
Rangimārie	peace, harmony; peaceful	Ra-ngi-mā-ri-e	girls
Āwhina	help, support; to help	Ā-whi-na	girls (2015)
Koa	glad, joyful, happy; joy	Ko-a	boys
Manaaki	to support, take care of, give hospitality to	Ma-na-a-ki	boys
Kaitoa	brave man, warrior	Kai-to-a	boys (2023–24)
Ariki	paramount chief, high chief; first-born of a high-ranking family	A-ri-ki	boys
Kahurangi	precious, treasured; a person of high rank; blue; a prized greenstone	Ka-hu-ra-ngi	girls and boys
Manawa	heart; patience; breath	Ma-na-wa	girls and boys (2015)

Two of these have second meanings worth knowing before you choose. Te Aka lists kaitoa as brave man, warrior, but also as an exclamation, it serves you right!, and another koa is the particle please.

Words for people

Name	Meaning (Te Aka)	Say it	DIA list
Tama	son, boy	Ta-ma	boys (2015)
Tāne	man, husband; Te Ara calls Tāne the god of the forest	Tā-ne	boys (2015)
Anahera	angel, a loanword	A-na-he-ra	girls

The family words themselves, from tamaiti ‘child’ to mokopuna ‘grandchild’, are in Māori family words.

Wiremu, Hēmi, Mere: Māori forms of English names

Some of the most familiar Māori names are English and Bible names, reshaped to fit Māori sounds. Te Aka lists each one as a loan personal name:

Māori	English	Say it
Wiremu	William (also Williams)	Wi-re-mu
Rāwiri	David	Rā-wi-ri
Mikaere	Michael	Mi-ka-e-re
Hēmi	James, Jim	Hē-mi
Hōne	John	Hō-ne
Pita	Peter	Pi-ta
Mere	Mary	Me-re
Hana	Hannah	Ha-na
Hēnare	Henry	Hē-na-re
Tāmati	Thomas	Tā-ma-ti
Matiu	Matthew	Ma-ti-u
Hōhepa	Joseph	Hō-he-pa
Āperahama	Abraham	Ā-pe-ra-ha-ma

The changes follow from the rules DIA uses to recognise a Māori name: only the consonants p, t, k, m, n, ng, wh, r, h and w, and a vowel at the end. There is no l, d or j, so the l of William and both ds of David become r in Wiremu and Rāwiri, and the j of John and James becomes h in Hōne and Hēmi. And since a Māori name ends in a vowel, one is added at the end: William ends in -mu and David in -ri.

Some were given at baptism in the 19th century. Te Ara’s biography of the Ngāi Te Rangi leader Hēnare Wiremu Taratoa records that he was baptised by the missionary Henry Williams and adopted his names; Hōne Tana Pāpāhia of Te Rarawa was baptised Hōne Wēpiha, John Webster, after a European settler. Wiremu, Rāwiri and Mikaere are all in the boys’ top ten for 2025–26, and Mere is the name in the sentence most learners meet first: Ko Mere tōku ingoa. ‘My name is Mere.’

Hine-, Tama- and Te: how compound names are built

Many Māori names are short phrases written as one word, the way place names are (see Māori place names and what they mean). DIA’s rules allow for this: a compound name such as Hineteuru qualifies when its parts are each in the dictionary. Three beginnings are especially common.

Te, ‘the’. DIA counts Te Aroha with Aroha, Te Ariki with Ariki and Te Rangi with Rangi, and the 2025–26 list records the same names written as Te-Aroha and TeAroha too.
Hine-, from hine ‘girl, daughter’. Te Ara gives Hineahuone, the first woman in Māori tradition, formed by Tāne, as ‘earth-formed maiden’. Hinemoa, in Te Aka a daughter of Umukaria and Hinemaru of Rotorua, swam to Mokoia Island guided by the music of Tūtānekai’s flute.
Tama-, from tama ‘son, boy’. Tamatekapua is made of tama, te and kapua ‘cloud’, and Te Aka gives it as the name of the commander of the Te Arawa canoe, which sailed from Hawaiki to Aotearoa.

A name can also record an event. Te Ara tells of the Tūwharetoa chief Horonuku Te Heuheu, whose first child was greeted with the conch shell kept for an eldest son, but was a girl. The next child, a boy, was named Tūreiti because he came ‘too late’ for the blessing.

Why the macron matters in a name

A macron marks a long vowel, and in Māori a long vowel can make a different word. DIA counts Marama and Mārama as one name, but Te Aka has two: marama is the moon or a month, and mārama is light, clear, easy to understand. The dictionary word for brave is māia, with no entry for maia without the macron, and the moon word is māhina.

Names are registered with macrons: DIA treats a macron in a registered name as a sign that it is meant as a Māori name, and its 2025–26 list counts spellings such as Nīkau, Rāwiri and Te Atārangi. If you choose a name with a long vowel, write the macron on the registration, and say the vowel long. The pronunciation guide has the five vowels, short and long.

Before you choose: whakapapa and ancestors’ names

Introducing DIA’s 2025–26 list, the Registrar-General, Russell Burnard, said: “These names carry deep meaning, they speak to whakapapa, identity, and the aspirations whānau have for their tamariki.” In 2016 the then Registrar-General, Jeff Montgomery, said that names like Tangaroa and Kahurangi carry on powerful connections to a child’s ancestors and whakapapa.

Some names belong to ancestors. Hinemoa and Tamatekapua are figures in the histories of Rotorua and Te Arawa, and a child may be given the name of a tupuna ‘ancestor’. Tūpuna Parenting, a Māori parenting programme, tells of a father who chose an ancestor’s name for his daughter, guided by his kaumātua and his whakapapa.
Some names are atua. Te Aka defines Tangaroa as the atua of the sea and fish, Te Ara calls Tāne the god of the forest, and Hine-te-iwaiwa is, in Te Aka, the atua regarded as the exemplary wife and mother.
Ask the people the name belongs to. If a name is an ancestor’s, the whānau, the kaumātua ‘elders’ and the iwi who descend from that ancestor are the ones who know its story, and the ones to ask.

When DIA released the 2015 list, Jeff Montgomery said many parents choose a Māori name to honour their commitment to the language and to symbolise their identity as New Zealanders, and that it was pleasing to see non-Māori people choosing to use te reo in this very personal way. Most of the names on its lists are everyday words such as Aroha, Moana and Nīkau.

Saying the name, and the language around it

Whatever the name, the sentence that goes with it is Ko Aroha tōku ingoa. ‘My name is Aroha.’, the last line of a pepeha, the traditional introduction. Verbavia’s free te reo Māori course (our own) teaches that sentence in its first lessons and plays every example in Papa Reo’s native te reo voice.