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Place names and ingoa wāhi

Ingoa wāhi can connect whakapapa, history and continuing relationships with whenua. GIS is useful for bringing naming evidence together as long as it keeps source, status, date and location method visible.

Start with the Gazetteer​

The New Zealand Gazetteer contains every official New Zealand geographic name plus many unofficial recorded and collected names. Entries include status, feature type, coordinates and, where available, history/origin/meaning and source information.

A name being in the Gazetteer does not automatically mean it is official. A name being absent does not establish that it is wrong or unreal.

Detailed guides​

A data model that preserves evidence​

For a serious research table, avoid one name field trying to carry everything.

place_record_id
name_as_source
name_normalised
name_current_gazetteer
gazetteer_name_id
gazetteer_status
source_type
source_ref
source_date
location_method
location_status
notes

A related names/evidence table is better than dozens of name2, name3 fields.

Historical names​

Search Māori Land Court records, survey/title plans, Archives New Zealand, historic maps, Papers Past, Tribunal/CFRT reports and Gazette notices. Record the historical spelling before normalising it.

See Historical research and Archives to map.

Local names​

A local name can be relevant to a project even when it is not in a national naming database. Keep the source/context attached and choose the map representation needed for the kaupapa. The Gazetteer remains one national reference source rather than the complete record of Māori naming.

AI-assisted searching​

Local AI can locate candidate ingoa wāhi across reports and PDFs. Keep the exact quotation/page and then use the place-name workflow to determine whether a geographic match can be established.

Current Gazetteer access​

For the wider question of representation see Who gets to name a place?.

Last reviewed: 26 August 2026

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