Some awesome Māori names for baby:Match the English meanings of these Mäori names by drawing a line between the names and the translation on the right ...

Roimata peace

Aroha skin

Rangi keep close

Rangimärie the sky/day

Kiri teardrop

Kahu assist/help Piri love

Äwhina cloak

AROHA HIGH SCHOOL YEARBOOK

Answers at:www.koreromaori.co.nz/answers

Class of 2013

Waimärama

Miriama

Wepiha

Māori names: the big pictureLots of people in Aotearoa have Mäori names. Names are for life. A helpful way of supporting te reo Mäori is to say Mäori names correctly. Imagine having your name mispronounced on a daily basis!

• Only shorten Mäori names if asked to.

• Listen carefully to how the name has been said.

• Ask if you have said it correctly.

• Ask ‘Where does your name come from?’

• Getting names right is important in all workplaces and schools.

• Remember, names mark our cultural identity.

• Break the name into syllables:

Po ia, Wai mä ra ma,

Ki ri Te Ka na wa,

Mi ri a ma, A ro ha,

Ro i ma ta

Māori names: Traditions

Did you know that:

Until about 100 years ago Mäori didn’t have surnames?

When a baby was born the kaumätua (the elders), would sit and decide on a name for baby?

A Mäori name is a link to whenua and whakapapa (the family tree), to family history and to the land?

A name might be chosen from the whakapapa, or be based on an event at the time of the child’s birth?

e.g. Matariki for a child born during the Mäori new year.

Mäori names could change as a way of marking an event?

e.g. Mäui became known as Mäui Pötiki (Mäui the youngest) when he met his older bothers.

Tips

Poia

Metiria

Activity: Try practicing the names of the people featured

in this pamphlet.