Ngā ingoa Māori o Kāpiti | Māori place names of Kāpiti

Kāpiti is an abbreviation of Te Waewae Kapiti o Tara rāua ko Rangitāne, and refers to the historical dividing line between the tribal lands of the Ngāi Tara and Rangitāne peoples. Below are some other local place names and their common translations:

• Kāpiti – joining (or boundary) place
• Paekākāriki – hill of the parakeet
• Raumati – summer
• Paraparaumu – scraps from an earth oven
• Otaihanga – place made by the tide 
• Waikanae – mullet waters
• Reikōrangi – gate to heaven
• Te Horo – the landslide 
• Ōtaki – place of sticking a staff into the ground 
• Tararua – two peaks
• Horowhenua – the great landslide

The New Zealand Gazetteer of Place Names (the Gazetteer) holds all official names for features within the New Zealand Geographic Board’s coverage. It also has other information, such as Māori place names that have macrons , Māori Pā names, Treaty of Waitangi Settlement names and useful links.

You may also be interested in the legend of Haunui-a-Nanaia an ancestor famous for naming various landmarks and tributaries along the western and southern parts of the North Island, including the rivers from Whanganui to Waikanae.