Aotearoa, or the land of the long white cloud as it would be in Swedish, comes from New Zealand’s indigenous Maori. They probably came to present-day New Zealand from Polynesia sometime between the 8th and 13th centuries.
For Europeans, the country only became known in 1642 when the Dutchman Abel Tasman passed through the area on behalf of the East India Company.
70,000 signatures
Now votes are being raised for a name change. Behind the proposal is, among others, the Māori Party – a small party that sits in parliament.
According to the Wall Street Journal, over 70,000 signatures have been collected. This means that a parliamentary committee must prepare the matter and possibly recommend either a vote in parliament, a referendum or no action.
The name itself is nothing new, but is already used in everyday speech and also in official documents.
Many want to keep New Zealand
But according to an opinion poll that the newspaper refers to, more than half of the respondents want to keep the name New Zealand.
Jim Boult, mayor of Queenstown, fears a name change could confuse tourists.
– It would be as if BMW changed its name to Bavarian Motors, he says to the Wall Street Journal.
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has previously said an official name change was never considered, but is encouraging people to use the name.
– I increasingly hear the use of Aotearoa interchangeably with New Zealand and that is a positive thing, she said according to The Guardian.