Aotearoa(Country)Maori, English (New Zealand) While the original intended meaning of the name is not entirely clear, it is commonly translated as "Long White Cloud" today. It is not known whether it is intended to be made of the words ao ("cloud; dawn; daytime; world"), tea ("white; clear; bright"), and roa ("long; tall"), or Aotea (one of the canoes on which the original Māori arrived to New Zealand in) and roa ("long; tall")... [more]
Hilo(Settlement)Hawaiian, English Meaning uncertain, possibly derived from Hawaiian hilo meaning "twist, braid, spin". This is the name of a town in the US state of Hawaii.
Honolulu(Settlement)Hawaiian, English Means "sheltered harbor", from Hawaiian hono "bay, harbor" and lulu "shelter". This is the state capital of Hawaii.
Kailua(Settlement)Hawaiian From Hawaiian kailua meaning "two seas", from kai meaning "sea, seawater" and ʻelua, meaning "two". The community in Hawaiʻi is named for two former fishponds located nearby.
Kaneohe(Settlement)Hawaiian From Hawaiian kāne ʻohe meaning "bamboo man", after the story of a local woman who compared her husband's cruelty to the sharp edge of cutting bamboo.
Karamea(Settlement)Maori, English Means "speargrass" in Maori, peobably from a corruption of kakara taramea meaning "sweet-scented gum (of speargrass leaves)". This is the name of a town in New Zealand.
Kīlauea(Mountain)Hawaiian Combination of Hawaiian kī, an intensifying prefix, lau "many, much", and ea "to rise, expand". This is an active volcano in the US state Hawaii, located on the island Hawaiʻi.
Maui(Island)Hawaiian, English Likely from the name of the Hawaiian trickster god Māui. This is the name of an island in the U.S. state of Hawaii.
Mauna Loa(Mountain)Hawaiian Means "long mountain" in Hawaiian. This is the name of the world's largest active volcano and the second tallest mountain in Hawaii. It makes up over half of the Big Island.
Oʻahu(Island)Hawaiian Meaning unknown. Legend says that a Polynesian navigator who discovered the Hawaiian islands named it after his daughter. This is the third largest and most populated island in Hawaii... [more]
Rangihaute(Island)Moriori This is the name the Moriori gave Pitt Island in the Chatham Archipelago. On this island Moriori slaves hid from Maori masters during the Moriori enslavement. One of these slaves include a man named Koche, a popular (among the Moriori) son of a Moriori chief, who escape from his Maori master.
Rapa Nui(Island)Rapa Nui This is one of the Rapanui names for Easter Island. The word "Nui" in this case with "Rapa" means "Great Rapa." It was named this to distinguish it from another island in French Polynesia Rapa Iti. This name comes from a Tahitian who thought the shape of the island looked like his home island Rapa (now called Rapa Iti) in what is now French Polynesia... [more]
Rēkohu(Island)Moriori The name means "misty sun" or "misty skies." This was what the Moriori called the Chatham Islands. This is what they also called Chatham Island.
Te Ika A Māui(Island)Maori This is the Maori name for North Island in New Zealand. The name in English is "the fish of Māui." Navigator Kupe according to a Polynesian tradition shaped the islands of New Zealand.
Tekoa(Mountain)Maori Mount Tekoa is a mountain range in South New Zealand.
Te Pito O Te Henua(Island)Rapa Nui This is one of the names the Rapanui called Easter Island. This name is older than the name Rapa Nui. In English it means, "the navel (or center) of the world" or "the center/navel of the world." It can also mean "the end of the land."
Te Waipounamu(Island)Maori This is the Maori name for the South Island in New Zealand. Around 1550 Maoris migrated from North Island in what is now New Zealand to South Island due to high population.
Tuvalu(Country)Polynesian Tuvalu is also the name of a Polynesian island nation located in the Pacific Ocean, midway between Hawaii and Australia. Its name meaning 'eight standing together'.
Wahiawā(Settlement)Hawaiian A settlement in Hawaiʻi. The name is derived from the Hawaiian phrase wahi a wā meaning "place of the wa people".
Waikato(River)Maori From the Māori word wai, meaning "water", and kato, meaning "flow; current". Together, this is often translated as "flowing water". The Waikato River is the biggest river in Aotearoa New Zealand, and is often referred to by locals as the 'Mighty Waikato'
Waipahu(Settlement)Hawaiian From Hawaiian waipahu, "water forced up, spring", from wai, "water" and pahū, "burst, explode".
Wharekauri(Settlement)Maori This is misnomer of the Chatham Islands and Chatham Island. A Maori man made this mistake before 1835. This came from a settlement on Chatham Island named Wharekauri. The Maori have called Chatham Island that to this day.