Calling all kiwis, is New Zealand named after somewhere called Zealand and if so, where is this Zealand?

Answer 1

This is the full and definitive answer although I much prefer the answer from Sangmo!!

The following is reproduced from New Zealand Foreign Affairs Review (Sept. 1970), pp. 28-31.]
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The following paper was prepared by the New Zealand Embassy at The Hague:

As many people are aware, about 1 percent of the population of New Zealand is Dutch. Indeed, after New Zealanders of British and of indigenous (Maori) origin, immigrants of Dutch origin are the most numerous group in New Zealand. But, as most people also realise, this diversification of the New Zealand population is largely a post-war development. At what point, then, did New Zealand pick up the Dutch-sounding name by which it has been known for so long?

The average well-informed New Zealander, like the average well-informed Dutchman, believes he knows the answer. He is aware that New Zealand was first discovered in 1642 by the distinguished Dutch navigator, Abel Janszoon Tasman, and he is, of course, aware also that Zealand was then, and is still, a province of the Netherlands. Probably ninety-nine Dutchmen out of a hundred, and ninety-nine New Zealanders out of a hundred, therefore assume that Tasman must have named the country, presumably after his home province. They feel that so obvious an explanation must surely account fully for the otherwise unusual fact that the British Cornmonwealth of today includes a country which still recalls a Netherlands connection; it its every mention.

Those who have looked into the matter rather further, and who are familiar with world atlases published between 1642 (when Tasrnan first sighted the country) and 1769 (when Captain Cook became the second European to visit New Zealand), know also that the country regularly features therein as Zeelandia Nova (or New Zealand). This only serves to confirm their assumption.

Yet the real answer is less simple, and it is tantalising that even modern historical research leaves an area of uncertainty as to the first use of the name New Zealand. (certainly Tasman himself had no special connection with the province ,of Zeeland. Certainly also, when in 1642 he first saw this "great land uplifted high" (groot hooch verheven landt), he gave it the name, not of Nieuw Zeeland, but of Staten Landt, as his journal and chart indisputably indicate.

Of the subsequent change in name, perhaps the best current account is given in a book published in New Zealand in 1959. E. H. McCormick's Tasman and New Zealand - A Bibliographical Study. The reader of this account (quoted below) should bear in mind that Tasrnan was able to chart only part of the west coast of the new country and could, therefore form no idea as to whether it was an island or a continent that he had discovered.

"Why Zeelandia Nova?" writes Eric McCorrnick. "Tasman - so runs the usual explanation - called the country 'Staten Landt' believing. it might be joined to the Staten Landt .off the South American coast, discovered earlier in the century [fn. By Le Maire in 1616.] and thought to be a promontory of the fabled Terra Australis Incognita; in 1643, however, Hendrik Brouwer proved that the first Staten Landt was an island and could not possibly extend to the region of Tasman's discovery; hence the original name was dropped and soon replaced by the present term." J. C. Beaglehole concludes: "Within a very few years [of Brouwer's voyage] the present name of Nova Zeelandia had been given. Nieuw Zeeland the country was to be, after the island province fronting on the unquiet waters of the North Sea."

"Convincing to this point," continues McCornick, "the account may be carried a little further to explain, at least by supposition, why 'Zeelandia Nova' was chosen in preference to other alternatives. The reason is probably bound up with the naming of the West Coast of Australia, called by Tasman 'Cornpagnies Nieuw Nederland' and later rechristened 'Hollandia Nova', a term gradually extended to the whole continent. For the sake of symmetry and to honour the second great maritime province of the Netherlands, is it not possible that 'Zeelandia Nova' was selected to describe the other southern land (one which, for all the geographers knew, might exceed Hollandia Nova in extent)? … The true explanation doubtless lies buried with some seventeenth century cartographer."

The historical records unfortunately do indeed provide little help in documenting this development. Neither in the documents of the East India Company, nor in those of the States General, can a resolution he traced on the change of name of Staten Landt to Nieuw Zeeland. Regrettably, the resolutions of the Chamber Zeeland between the years 1638 and 1651 are missing.

It is nevertheless a reasonable assumption that there is a connection between the change of name and differences in those days between the West and East India Companies as to their line of demarcation. On 21 September 1644 (according to information provided by the Royal Dutch Archives), the directors of the East India Company were not prepared to take a definite resolution about the results of Tasman's discoveries owing to some lingering uncertainty lest the Staten Landt discovered by Tasman might be part of the Staten Landt south of South America. They seem to have feared that the West India Company might allege an infringement of rights and claim possession of the new country on its own account. For the same reason one can see why, once Brouwer's work was fully absorbed, there should have been every incentive to give Tasman's "Staten Landt" a new and less compromising name.

It seems clear, then, that the name Nieuw Zecland was not adopted before 1644. This can be confirmed by reference to the Linschoten Vereniging Volume XVII, De Reizen van Abel Janszoon Tasman en Franchoys Jacobszoon Visscher in 1642-3 en 1644, published by R. P. Meyjes in 1919 (Martinus Nijhoff, The Hague) which prints on page 173 a directive to Tasman which uses the term "Statenlandt".

Can one then set at least an early date after 1644 when the new name of Nieuw Zeeland had become firmly established? It was clearly not long thereafter. McCormick in his study notes, for instance, that 'Zeelandia Nova' was a geographical term known well beyond the Netherlands at least by 1660 when Charles 11 of England, on his restoration, was presented by a group of Amsterdam merchants w'th an "Orbis Terrae Compendurn", a gigantic atlas, showing both "Hollandia Nova" and "Zeelandia Nova". It is indeed to the cartographers that it seems one must repair, and from the evidence of early maps it is as good a guess as any that the name Nieuw Zecland dates from no later than about 1648. The cartographical evidence is to be found in the Netherlands itself. It is natural to look especially to three early sources, though one of them yields no information. Engraved on a floor in the Royal Palace in Amsterdam are two mosaic hemispheres, which include data on Tasman's discoveries. These hemispheres are judged to date from about 1650, this part of the building being erected as the Amsterdam Civic Hall over the years 1648 to 1655 and it was argued by R. P. Meyjes in 1919 that they derived from a drawing by Joannes Blaeu, the famous cartographer associated with the Netherlands East India Company. Unfortunately, however, the hemispheres do not include New Zealand.

It is, therefore, to the Geographical Institute at Utrecht that one must turn. Here there exists a Blaeu globe, which does record the name "Zeelandia Nova". The Linschoten Vereniging volume referred to above in one place dates this globe at about 1650, and in another place at about 1648. Dr F. C. Wielder, Librarian of the University of Leiden (see below), is mentioned as placing it at 1648 on the supposition that it is one of a set of two globes, the other being an astronomical globe judged to date from that year. This, then, is commonly believed to he the first cartographical reference to New Zealand.

Yet it may not be. Strangely enough the Linschoten Vereniging volume (published in 1919) omits all reference to yet another map, and a particularly handsome one, which can readily be seen on the walls of the Netherlands Historical Maritime Museum in Amsterdam, and on which both Tasman's outline and the words "Zeelandia Nova" clearly appear. This is a. large copper-engraved world map (nearly 3 metres long and 2 metres high) published by Joannes Blaeu. It has been reproduced in plates 51 to 71 of Volume 111 of Monumenta Cartographica, edited by Dr F. C. Wielder (Martinus Nijhoff, 'The Hague 1925-33), plate 62 being the relevant plate so far as New Zealand is concerned. This map was dedicated by Blaeu to the Spanish Ambassador, Casparo de Bracamond, at the Peace Congress in Westphalia ("Nova 30 Hanc Orbis Terrac tabularn gratulabundus dedicat", the in says in part); and the word "gratulabundus" is judged to supply the publication date of the map. "The peace was just concluded," comments Monurnenta Cartographica, "therefore the map is of the year 1648". The relevance of this map in tracing the origin of the name of New Zealand seems so far to have escaped scholars who have inquired into the matter.

So, pending further research or some unexpected discovery, those who are interested in how and when the name New Zealand arose must rest content with the knowledge that the country does indeed owe its name to the Netherlands but that when this name was first applied still remains uncertain, though it was probably between the years 1644 and 1648.


The following summary notes were produced by Brian Hooker.
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The story of the naming of New Zealand is not straightforward but it is not shrouded in mystery. Some of the details can only be confirmed through secondary or circumstantial evidence but considered together with the known facts the overall chronicle is virtually complete and the conclusions convincing.

Maori naming

There is no evidence that early Maori had a name for the country as a whole. In fact, all available evidence points to the view that Maori named every geographical feature individually but not collectively. The best known reference to this is in the journal of the French explorer Dumont d'Urville who noted the following in 1827: " On coasts inhabited by a people so highly endowed, and who had not left an islet, a rock, a corner of the land without assigning a name to it, …" (New Zealand 1826-1827 - From the French of Dumont D'Urville - an English translation by Olive Wright, 1950. pp.146-7.) Entries in Cook's journals support this view. (see J.C. Beaglehole The Journals of Captain James Cook, Beaglehole, J. C. (ed.) (1955, 1961); The evidence included in references listed at this site supports the view that the name "Aotearoa" was a late 19th-century invention with a strong European input.

Tasman's name for New Zealand

Tasman named New Zealand "Staten Landt". An entry in his journal for 19 December 1642 reads: " This Land is the second land that is sailed to and discovered by us this Land we have given the name of Staten landt in honour of the High and Mighty states [General of the United Provinces of the Netherlands] because it could well be, that this land Would be joined to the state Landt, [i.e. at the southern tip of South America] …". (Andrew Sharp, The voyages of Abel Janszoon Tasman, London, 1968) Charts accompanying Tasman's journal also provide the same name.

Maps published surreptitiously at Amsterdam soon after Tasman's expedition returned to Batavia (Jakarta) in June 1643 clearly show the name "Staten Landt' (or similar) beside parts of the west coast of New Zealand. (See Brian Hooker Two sets of Tasman longitudes in seventeenth and eighteenth century maps" The Geographical Journal vol. 156, Part 1, March 1990.) Undoubtedly for the reasons given by McCormick and Sharp the name was changed to Zeelandia Nova. The exact date of the change is not known but almost certainly it was in 1648 when Joan Blaeu revised his 68 cm terrestrial globe first published in 1617 by Willem Blaeu and included the part of New Zealand with names.

Conclusion

The facts reviewed in the notes above and the articles listed on this site reveal that there is no case as some people have suggested for a return to New Zealand's original Maori name. There was no original name. About Tasman's name of "Staten Landt" This was continued in maps right up to the time of Cook's exploration in 1769-70, Cook or the British Admiralty probably had a choice between selecting the name "Staten Landt" or "New Zealand" for maps and journals but Cook chose New Zealand (or New Zeland). Almost certainly, the originator of the name New Zealand was Joan Blaeu who held the appointment of official cartographer to the Dutch East India Company. Probably Blaeu was directed by or consulted by an official or officials of the Company, in 1648.

Answer 2

New Zealand is named for the Dutch province Zeeland. It was originally called Staten Landt but this was changed by Dutch explorers to Nova Zeelandia and eventually to New Zealand

Answer 3

No, it was originally "Newsy Land" because so much was happening there during the time of British settlement and everyone back home looked forward to hearing from their relatives whenever a ship came in. Eventually, as the folks established and asserted their independence, it seemed a bit of a silly name, so some stuff was made up about Zeeland (obviously wrong - it isn't even spelt the same).

Answer 4

"New Zealand (original Maori name: Aotearoa) was renamed Nieuw Zeeland in 1624 by explorer Abel Janszoon Tasman, lonesome for the Dutch province of Zeeland. "

Answer 5

Amsterdam could be the capital of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, is one of the most popular tourist places in Europe; and you are able to visit it from with hotelbye . with its universities, academies, and study institutes, along with an increase of than 40 museums, numerous theaters, and activity sites, Amsterdam may be the country's primary national middle and a good place to spend your holyday. Additionally, Amsterdam is also well-known for their historical homes, presented in a routine of concentric segments in the shape of a fan. Are some 6,750 buildings relationship from the 16th to 18th centuries are crowded in to an area of 2,000 miles, dissected by 160 canals, themselves home to numerous houseboats.

Answer 6

Are you Kiwis not tired of being told that Abel Tasman "discovered" your country "first"? Especially if you're Maori.

Answer 7

named for the zeal that the brits had when they arrived to colonize the land