Maori Name Generator

Māori names come from te reo Māori, the language of the tangata whenua of Aotearoa New Zealand, and almost every one carries a plain meaning. Aroha is love, Moana is ocean, Marama is moon, Whetū is star, Kahurangi is precious or blue, and Rangimārie is peace. Many names for women begin with Hine (girl, daughter), so Hinemoa, Hinewai and Hinerangi are all built the same way, while Tāne (man), Tama (son) and Rangi (sky) appear in men's names. Others honour the atua and ancestors: Tāne, Tangaroa, Māui, Kupe and Paikea are still given today.

A second layer of names arrived with missionaries in the 1800s. Because te reo has no s, l, or consonant clusters, Biblical and English names were transliterated: William became Wiremu, John became Hōne, Mary became Mere, Peter became Pita and Elizabeth became Irihāpeti. Māori surnames often work the same way (Wiremu, Hōhepa, Rāwiri as family names) or come from an ancestor's name, an iwi, or a place. Names beginning with Te (the) or Ngā (the, plural) are common: Te Rauparaha, Te Puea, Ngāi Tahu.

Macrons matter. The bar over a vowel marks a long sound and can change meaning entirely, so Tāne is spelled that way and Māori itself takes one. This list keeps the macrons and mixes traditional te reo names, transliterated names, famous historical figures, and full first-name-plus-surname combinations so you can see how a real modern Māori name looks.