DIA release Māori baby names with non Māori name again

January 5, 2020

DIA release Māori baby names with non Māori name again

Department of Internal Affairs releases their top 20 Māori baby names with mistakes again.

Mia features in the girls names for the second year in a row. Despite Mia not being a Māori name. Māori language expert Tāwhirimātea Williams also publicly stated this with the 2018 list after myself and others stated it was not a Māori name.

Other names of concern are Ari which is Hebrew and often a shortened version of a name. Other names should be checked in a dictionary to avoid further issues.

Last year, DIA stated that although Te Taura Whiri advised with the names, they only identified names that could phonetically be Māori names.

For a list of Māori names and their English translation see my list.

2019’S Top 10 Māori Girls and Boys names.

Girls

Mia
Aria
Maia
Amaia
Nina
Manaia
Kaia
Aroha
Tui
Ataahua

Boys

Nikau
MIkaere
Ari
Manaia
Mateo
Te Ariki
Taika
Ariki
Kauri
Rawiri

DISCLAIMER: This post is the personal opinion of Dr Karaitiana Taiuru and is not reflective of the opinions of any organisation that Dr Karaitiana Taiuru is a member of or associates with, unless explicitly stated otherwise.

Te Kete o Karaitiana Taiuru (Blog)