What is the English translation of Aotearoa, the Maori name for New Zealand?

Answer 1

Thanks for your question; it is always pleasing when someone shows an interest in our country.

This question appears to come up from time to time and it is left to me to provide the accurate response and to correct a number of misconceptions about how the name came about. So, here goes again!! :-)

Aotearoa is the name used by modern day Maori for New Zealand. It is popularly translated to mean 'Land of the Long White Cloud'; although a more accurate translation would be 'Land of the Long Clear Day' or the 'Long White World'.

Interestingly, it was not the name given to New Zealand by the original Maori settlers. The name 'Aotearoa', as used to describe the whole of New Zealand, was popularised in a Department of Education's School Journal in 1916 (compiled by Stephenson Percy Smith - a European), which told the story of Kupe, one of the first Maori to arrive in New Zealand from Polynesia. Given the romantic nature of the story, the name - Aotearoa - gradually gained popular usage and has now transplanted the names which were actually given to various parts of New Zealand by Maori. Early Maori never viewed New Zealand as a single country in the way we do today and so they would not have named it as such. In the pre-European era, Maori had no name for the country as a whole. They had come from islands and viewed New Zealand in the same way, naming each of the islands of New Zealand separately.

Today both English and Maori are official languages of New Zealand/Aotearoa ( along with New Zealand sign language) and so both names are recognised.

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Answer 2

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RE:
What is the English translation of Aotearoa, the Maori name for New Zealand?

Answer 3

Aotearoa Meaning

Answer 4

Aotearoa, meaning Land of the Long White Cloud, the early Polynesian settlers called the country is a name by which New Zealand is quite often known.

Answer 5

I thought it meant ' the land of the long, white cloud', but I'm a Skip, so that may not be correct. Kiwis should be able to tell if this is the correct translation or not.

Answer 6

It basically means "land of the long white cloud".

Answer 7

"The long white cloud" literally, but normally translated as "The land of the long white cloud"