Mākaro Ward Island Place Name Report

The report considered by the New Zealand Geographic Board Ngā Pou Taunaha o Aotearoa (NZGB) at its meeting on 27 March 2009.

• Makaro/Ward Island (name change)

Change from Makaro/Ward Island to Mākaro/Ward Island

General Background

Makaro/Ward Island is a small Island on the east side of Wellington Harbour. Makaro originates from the stories of Kupe who voyaged around New Zealand and eventually settled in Wellington Harbour. The two islands in Wellington Harbour were named after his daughters or nieces or granddaughters, Mākaro and Matiu.

After European settlement these islands were renamed Ward Island and Somes Island after the deputy governor and secretary of the New Zealand Company.

The name for Ward Island was officially changed to Makaro/Ward Island in 1997 and was gazetted on page 1403 (please see attached gazette notice). Although the name was gazetted in this form, it has been brought to the Board’s attention that a macron had been omitted from the first ‘a’ in Makaro. Research has found that the correct spelling should be Mākaro/Ward Island.

The correct spelling of the name of Mākaro, with a macron, was found in He Korero Pūrākau Mo Ngā Taunahanahatanga A Ngā Tūpuna/Place Names of the Ancestors - A Māori Oral History and was published in 1990, before the dual name became official. Mākaro Island is also used in Te Ara/The Encyclopedia of New Zealand. In Hugh Youngman’s Ngā Ingoa o Aotearoa: An Oral Dictionary of Māori Place Names (1985, pg 11) the name for the island is recorded as Mākaro (Ward) Island.

Map

For a larger scale version of this map please refer to the pdf version of the Mākaro/Ward Island place name report (pdf 471KB).