New Zealand Place Names: Common, Contested and Curious Names from Aotearoa to Zalatown

From Aotearoa to Zalatown, Whanganui to Whangarei, Cape Reinga/Te Rerenga Wairua to Bluff, New Zealand Place Names is a treasure trove of names for locals and visitors alike. This attractive and portable paperback gives updated definitions for over 850 names with history, origin, meanings, curiosities and more. It includes maps, glossaries, and appendices on prolific namers, great controversies and how to get a place named. A close collaboration with the New Zealand Geographic Board has seen an exchange of information between the authors and the official New Zealand Gazetteer, with this book drawing on the latest approved information and reviewed by experts in the field.

Peter Dowling has edited and extended various of A.W. Reed’s classic works including Māori Place Names (2017) and Place Names of New Zealand (2010). Resident in Auckland, Peter is the founder and publisher of Oratia Books, and a past president of the Publishers Association of NZ.

A.W. Reed (1908–1979) was one of New Zealand’s most influential writers and publishers. He helped build A.H. & A.W. Reed into the country’s leading publisher and authored more than 200 books in his career.