Māori pet names and dog names, with meanings

Most Māori pet names and Māori dog names are everyday words, chosen for what they mean: Pango ‘black’ for a black dog, Pākākā ‘ginger’ for a ginger cat, Whetū ‘star’, Tere ‘fast’ or Pihikete ‘biscuit’. Below are name ideas grouped by colour, sky and weather, trees, birds, character and food, each with its meaning in Te Aka Māori Dictionary and how to say it, then the second meanings worth checking, the words for dog, cat, puppy and pet, the commands to use with a dog, and a short history of the kurī, the dog Māori brought to New Zealand.

Updated 19 October 2026 · 9 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.

How to say the names

In the Say it columns 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: Pākākā has three long ās. The Māori pronunciation guide explains each sound, and a name tag or a vet’s form will want the macrons typed: how to type Māori macrons.

Māori dog names and pet names by colour

A colour is the easiest place to start, because you can see it. All of the colours, and the trees and birds several of them are named after, are in Māori colours.

Name	Meaning (Te Aka)	Say it
Pango	black, dark in colour	Pa-ngo
Mā	white, clean, pale	Mā
Kiwikiwi	grey	Ki-wi-ki-wi
Parauri	dark brown, chocolate colour	Pa-rau-ri
Pākākā	reddish-brown, ginger-coloured, chestnut, burnt orange	Pā-kā-kā
Kōwhai	yellow; also the kōwhai tree, with its yellow flowers	Kō-whai
Karaka	orange; also the karaka tree, with orange berries	Ka-ra-ka
Kōura	gold (a loan from English); also the crayfish	Kō-u-ra
Hiriwa	silver, the colour and the metal (a loan)	Hi-ri-wa
Māwhero	pink	Mā-whe-ro

Whero, red, is left out of the table on purpose: see the second meanings below. Te Aka’s pākākā is exactly the colour English calls ginger, and it is also the word for scorched.

Names from the sky, the weather and the land

Name	Meaning (Te Aka)	Say it
Whetū	star	Whe-tū
Marama	moon; month	Ma-ra-ma
Rā	sun; day	Rā
Kapua	cloud, bank of clouds	Ka-pu-a
Hau	wind, breeze, breath	Hau
Uira	lightning; to flash, gleam	U-i-ra
Whatitiri	thunder	Wha-ti-ti-ri
Hukarere	snow; to snow	Hu-ka-re-re
Awa	river, stream, creek	A-wa

Trees and plants

Name	Meaning (Te Aka)	Say it
Mānuka	mānuka, tea-tree: a native scrub bush with small white, pink or red flowers	Mā-nu-ka
Rātā	a large forest tree with crimson flowers and hard red timber	Rā-tā
Ponga	silver tree fern, its fronds silver-white beneath	Po-nga
Tōtara	a large forest tree with prickly olive-green leaves	Tō-ta-ra
Pūriri	a large spreading tree of the northern North Island	Pū-ri-ri
Harakeke	New Zealand flax	Ha-ra-ke-ke

Names that are popular for children, such as Moana ‘sea’, Nīkau ‘the native palm’ and Māhina ‘moon’, are in Māori baby names and their meanings.

Bird and animal names

Native birds are the Māori pet names people already use most. In 2025 the NZ Companion Animal Register, which holds more than 1.4 million microchip registrations, counted 191 pets named Tui, 34 named Kiwi and 24 named Kea, as reported by the Otago Daily Times. The most popular name overall, for cats and dogs alike, was Luna.

Name	What it is (Te Aka)	Say it
Tūī	a songbird that imitates other birds’ calls, glossy black with two white tufts at the throat	Tū-ī
Kiwi	the flightless, nocturnal kiwi	Ki-wi
Pīwakawaka	fantail: a small, friendly bird of the bush and gardens	Pī-wa-ka-wa-ka
Ruru	morepork, the native owl	Ru-ru
Weka	woodhen: brown, flightless, and able to run fast	We-ka
Kārearea	New Zealand falcon, a fast-flying bird of prey	Kā-re-a-re-a
Kererū	New Zealand pigeon	Ke-re-rū
Tuatara	a reptile found only in New Zealand, with spines down the back	Tu-a-ta-ra
Pekapeka	bat, the native long-tailed and short-tailed bats	Pe-ka-pe-ka

Kea and Kōtare are popular too, but read their second meanings first. Every bird, with its status and what its name means, is in Māori names for native birds and animals.

Names for a pet’s character

Name	Meaning (Te Aka)	Say it
Tere	quick, swift, fast	Te-re
Kakama	quick, nimble, alert, active	Ka-ka-ma
Hihiko	quick, brisk, cheerful, energetic, spirited, lively	Hi-hi-ko
Māia	brave, bold, capable, confident	Mā-i-a
Toa	brave, bold; champion, winner	To-a
Kaha	strong, energetic; also to be loud	Ka-ha
Koa	glad, joyful, happy	Ko-a
Hūmārie	gentle, pleasant, easy-going, mild-mannered	Hū-mā-ri-e
Ngāwari	easygoing, soft, kind, gentle	Ngā-wa-ri
Rawe	excellent, good, fine, nice	Ra-we
Hoa	friend, companion, mate	Ho-a
Iti	small, little, tiny	I-ti
Nui	large, big	Nu-i
Pōtiki	youngest child; also a pet	Pō-ti-ki

Pōtiki suits the newest arrival in a household, and Te Aka gives pet as its second meaning. More words for moods, from happy to hōhā ‘bored, fed up’, are in Māori words for feelings.

Food names

Name	Meaning (Te Aka)	Say it
Pihikete	biscuit, cookie (a loan)	Pi-hi-ke-te
Kūmara	sweet potato	Kū-ma-ra
Pāua	abalone; also a hoof	Pā-u-a
Huka	snow, foam, froth; and, as a loan, sugar	Hu-ka
Tīhi	cheese (a loan)	Tī-hi
Pata	butter (a loan)	Pa-ta
Panana	banana (a loan)	Pa-na-na
Āporo	apple (a loan)	Ā-po-ro
Rēwena	bread made with potato yeast	Rē-we-na
Kai	food, meal; to eat	Kai

Huka works twice for a white dog: snow or froth in Māori, and sugar as a loanword. The food words themselves, from kūmara to rēwena bread, are in Māori food words.

Check the second meaning

A Māori word often has more than one entry in the dictionary, and a name gets shouted across a park. These are the ones from this page’s searches that are worth knowing before you choose:

Whero is red, but a separate Te Aka entry gives anus, bum, backside, rump.
Kea is the mountain parrot, and also mucus discharge from the ear or nose, semen.
Kōtare is the kingfisher, and also a bludger, scrounger, cadger: someone who lives on the generosity of friends. For a dog that begs at the table, that may be the point.
Pōturi is slow, and also deaf, stubborn.
Takakau, the flat bread, is first of all unmarried, single.
Toa is brave and a champion, but also a shop, and the male of an animal.

Before you choose: atua, ancestors and people’s names

No source we could find sets out a rule for naming animals in te reo. Two things the sources do say are worth weighing. Te Ara notes that Māori sayings about the kurī ‘dog’ were mostly terms of scorn: an idle person sat by the fire like a dog, a coward had his tail between his legs. And Te Aka lists kai a te kurī, literally food of the dog, as a strong curse. Being likened to a dog has long been an insult.

So a suggestion rather than a rule: think twice before giving a pet the name of an atua, such as Tangaroa, or of a tupuna, an ancestor, and if the name belongs to someone’s whakapapa, ask Māori friends or whānau first. How those names are given to children, and who to ask, is in Māori baby names. The everyday words on this page carry no such weight.

The Māori words for dog, cat, puppy and pet

Māori	English (Te Aka)	Say it
kurī	dog; also any animal with four legs	ku-rī
punua kurī, kūao kurī, papi	pup, puppy (papi is a loan)	pu-nu-a ku-rī
ngeru	cat	nge-ru
punua ngeru	kitten	pu-nu-a nge-ru
hōiho	horse (a loan)	hō-i-ho
rāpeti	rabbit (a loan)	rā-pe-ti
heihei	hen, chook, chicken	hei-hei
kiore	rat; also used for the house mouse	ki-o-re
ika	fish	i-ka
manu	bird	ma-nu
kararehe	animal, especially one with four legs	ka-ra-re-he

Mōkai, the word for a pet, and what else it means

The usual word for a pet is mōkai (mō-kai), but it is worth knowing its history. Te Aka defines it as servant, captive, slave, pet, and as a verb to enslave; another of its entries gives the youngest in a family and, used of a person, a term of opprobrium. Calling an animal a mōkai is ordinary. Calling a person one is another matter.

Te Aka lists other words with the sense of pet: mōkaikai ‘tame animal or bird, pet’, maimoa ‘pet; to cherish’, whakapuhi ‘pet, favourite’ and pōtiki ‘youngest child; pet’. And a pet name in the other sense, a nickname, is an ingoa kārangaranga.

Saying you have one, and what it is called

Animals and pets take the a form of the possessive, so my dog is tāku kurī, not tōku. A name takes the o form: tōna ingoa ‘its name’. Why, is explained in Māori possessives.

Māori	English
He kurī tāku.	I have a dog.
He kurī tāna, ko Tama te ingoa.	He had a dog, named Tama.
Ko Pango tōna ingoa.	Its name is Pango.
He kurī pai koe!	You’re a good dog!

Talking to your dog in Māori

A command is the bare verb, with one rule: a verb of one or two syllables takes e in front, and a longer one takes nothing. So it is E noho! but Takoto!, and Kaua e before any verb means don’t.

Māori	English
Haere mai!	Come here!
E noho!	Sit! Stay! (noho is to sit, stay, remain)
Takoto!	Lie down!
E tū!	Stand!
Taihoa!	Wait!
Kāti!	Stop! Enough!
Kaua e ngau!	Don’t bite!
Kaua e pahupahu!	Don’t bark!
Ka pai!	Good! Well done!
Moi!	the traditional call for a dog

Two traps. Kāo is no, but Te Aka says it is used only to answer a question, so it is not the word to stop a dog with; use Kāti! or Kaua e ngau! instead. And Moi! is old: Te Ara tells how Māui’s wives called Moi! and their brother Irawaru, whom Māui had pulled into the shape of a dog, came running.

The kurī: the dog that came with the first voyagers

Before European dogs arrived, the dog in Aotearoa was the kurī, a Polynesian dog brought on the ancestral canoes in the 13th century. Te Ara describes it as small and long-haired, about the size of a border collie, with a small head, pricked ears, short legs and a bushy tail; some were black, some white, some patched or spotted, and some yellow. It did not bark but howled. Te Ara gives auau as the word for the kurī’s howl and pahupahu for the bark of the European dog; Te Aka glosses both as to bark.

Te Ara calls the kurī a favoured pet of Māori chiefs; it was also food, and a source of fur. Its skins were sewn into kahu kurī ‘dogskin cloaks’, highly prized and worn by high-ranking chiefs in Te Aka’s account; the hair of its tail was made into circlets for mourners and used to adorn weapons, and its bones into awls, pendants and fish hooks. Kurī were also used to hunt kiwi, weka and pūkeko.

Several dogs of the voyaging traditions have names. Pōtaka Tawhiti belonged to the Hawaiki chief Houmaitawhiti; its eating by the rival chief Uenuku set off the quarrels that led Tamatekapua to sail the Te Arawa canoe to New Zealand. Young Nick’s Head is Te Kurī-a-Pāoa, named by Pāoa, captain of the Horouta, after his lost dog. The most famous pet of all was not a dog: Tutunui, in Te Aka the pet whale of Tinirau, which the tohunga Kae ate.

The kurī died out through cross-breeding with dogs brought by Europeans; Te Ara says it is unclear when. Te Papa’s curator of vertebrates wrote in 2012 that its mounted kurī was one of two shot in the Catlins district in 1876, and that the only other intact mounted kurī known is in Otago Museum.

Say the name in a sentence

Once the name is chosen, the sentence is the one children learn first: Ko Pākākā tōna ingoa. ‘Its name is Pākākā.’ Verbavia’s free te reo Māori course teaches kurī, ngeru and mōkai among its early words, along with the commands on this page, and plays every example in Papa Reo’s native te reo voice.