WHAT WAS CLAIMED
William Pember Reeves invented the name Aotearoa for his book about New Zealand.
OUR VERDICT
False. The word Aotearoa, and its use to refer to New Zealand, predates the book.
AAP FACTCHECK - The name Aotearoa was not created by historian and politician William Pember Reeves in 1887, despite social media claims.
The claim relates to the name of Reeves' 1898 - not 1887 - history of New Zealand, titled The Long White Cloud, Ao Tea Roa.
Aotearoa is a Maori word found in books and documents predating Reeves's publication. References to it being used as a name for New Zealand also predate the book.
"William Pember Reeves invented the name Aotearoa in 1887 as the name for his book of poetry," the Facebook photo caption reads, above an image of the parliamentarian's book.
The post inaccurately describes the publication as a book of poetry. It is a short history of NZ.
There has been debate in recent years about changing the official name of New Zealand to Aotearoa, with proponents arguing that it would recognise the country's indigenous peoples.
Experts and primary sources confirm Reeves neither "invented" the word nor was the first to use it to refer to New Zealand.
Lachlan Paterson, Emeritus Professor at the University of Otago's School of Maori, Pacific, and Indigenous Studies, said it is incorrect that Reeves "created" or "invented" the name "Aotearoa".
Prof Paterson said newspaper clippings show the term was used extensively before the book's publication.
This includes a government-sponsored Maori-language newspaper Maori Messenger in 1854, Maori Iwi (tribe) Ngāti Maniapoto calling one of its coastal ships, "Aotearoa" in 1857, and a meeting in a ceremonial house called "Aotearoa" in 1861, he said.
He said that in old newspapers around that time, Aotearoa usually referred to the North Island, with "Te Waipounamu" the name for the South Island.
"I have no doubts that it was a name that pre-dates Māori contact with Europeans," he said.
"I am confident that the term is not one invented by a white man."
Dr Sam Iti Prendergast, a history lecturer at the University of Waikato, agreed that the posts are incorrect and pointed to the use of Aotearoa as early as 1855 in print.
"It is generally thought to mean ao (cloud) tea (pale) roa (long), ie long white cloud, but I can't say with any certainty where this translation originates or where the term originated—there are most likely many different understandings," Dr Prendergast said.
It is also incorrect to say Reeves was the first to use the term to refer to New Zealand.
George Grey's 1855 compilation of Maori traditions, Polynesian Mythology, is recognised as containing one of the first examples of its use in print.
In recounting the legend of Maori mythological hero Maui, he wrote that the "greater part of his descendants remained in Hawaiki, but a few of them came here to Aotearoa… (or in these islands)".
The term is also referenced as being associated with New Zealand in an 1878 newspaper article featuring a Maori translation of the national anthem.
The Otago Daily Times article, reads: "In explanation of the title, we may state that 'Aotearoa' is the old and poetic name given to New Zealand by those who first saw it..."
Reeves also makes reference to Aotearoa as the Maori name for New Zealand in his 1898 book.
On the first page he references "Ao-Tea-Roa" as the "Maori name of New Zealand".
While the precise origin of the term is not known, some traditional stories claim it comes from when Polynesian explorer Kupe first arrived on the North Island.
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