Find out more...Place Naming in New Zealand

Official place names in New Zealand and in the Ross Sea region of Antarctica are assigned by the New Zealand Geographic Board Ngā Pou Taunaha o Aotearoa (NZGB). Find out more about the NZGB.

Place name decisions

Read more about the NZGB's legal and administrative processes in place naming processes & legislation.

The NZGB makes final decisions on proposed new or altered existing place names and publishes them. Read the NZGB's decisions & public notices.

Place names research

In researching place names, you can find out more about:

• Māori place names
• official place names with macrons
• origins of place names
• undersea place names.

You can also find out about Antarctic place names.

Street names & highways

Local authorities are responsible for street naming. Transit New Zealand names highways.

LINZ also maintains streets and places data for electoral purposes. Find out more about electoral streets & places.

Proposing a new or altered name

The NZGB recognises that place names should be the product of careful and informed decisions.

A proposal for a new or altered name should be in the form of a well documented submission. Therefore you may need to gather information and resources to support your proposal. Find out about making a submission proposal.

Support or objections

If you want to make a submission to object or support a submission on a proposed place name, refer to the NZGB's decisions & public notices.