Oceania Aotearoa/New Zealand name change

Remove this Banner Ad

Johnny Bananas

Premiership Player Hater
Sep 10, 2010
12,676
17,004
Next door
AFL Club
Brisbane Lions

Might be just around the corner.

Personally, I think there's little inherent value in being named after some obscure Dutch province when even most white people in the country don't have substantial Dutch ancestry. Feels like people want to keep the name simply because they're used to it and resistant to change. The argument against that is, people can get used to any name given sufficient time, so with time one will be as good as the other in that sense. And, Aotearoa is an older, non-colonial name unique to the place.
 

Log in to remove this ad.

carltonchelsea

Premium Gold
Sep 4, 2021
2,563
4,649
AFL Club
Carlton

Might be just around the corner.

Personally, I think there's little inherent value in being named after some obscure Dutch province when even most white people in the country don't have substantial Dutch ancestry. Feels like people want to keep the name simply because they're used to it and resistant to change. The argument against that is, people can get used to any name given sufficient time, so with time one will be as good as the other in that sense. And, Aotearoa is an older, non-colonial name unique to the place.
My father and brother in law will be frothing.
Great move I reckon, always was always will be Māori land!
 
Mar 16, 2007
13,851
11,711
Showers Stand
AFL Club
Essendon
Feels like people want to keep the name simply because they're used to it and resistant to change.

I don't know about that. It's a core part of the nation/people's identity. It's not the same as renaming some park or local council.

It's the same reasoning that works to support renaming the Rhodesia's of the world. A diverse people's collective identity and sense of self.

It's not an insurmountable obstacle but it's not meaningless.
 

(Log in to remove this ad.)

Sep 19, 2007
19,019
17,546
Mornington Peninsula
AFL Club
St Kilda
Other Teams
Anaheim Ducks, PSV Eindhoven
We should do the same!👍
The problem with that would be that their isn't a single Indigenous language so you'd be picking and choosing and there also might not even be a word that covers it.

Remember Naarm is actually the word for Port Phillip Bay and not the Melbourne settlement.

Australia works as an inclusive name as it just means Southern Land.

Now New South Wales could probably do with a name change ;)
 

carltonchelsea

Premium Gold
Sep 4, 2021
2,563
4,649
AFL Club
Carlton
The problem with that would be that their isn't a single Indigenous language so you'd be picking and choosing and there also might not even be a word that covers it.

Remember Naarm is actually the word for Port Phillip Bay and not the Melbourne settlement.

Australia works as an inclusive name as it just means Southern Land.

Now New South Wales could probably do with a name change ;)
Yeh but there were people here for 60,000 years prior, that had no voice in this decision.
🤷‍♀️
 
Having looked up the pronunciation, perhaps it’s better for everyone if they don’t try…
My old man can speak a pidgin language called Chilapalapa that lazy white people used in Rhodesia and we used plenty of it is as slang in our family. It's the throaty eh at the end straight after the click consonant that people will find hardest to get their mouth around.
 

Cmarsh

Norm Smith Medallist
Apr 23, 2012
7,698
10,427
NSW
AFL Club
GWS
The problem with that would be that their isn't a single Indigenous language so you'd be picking and choosing and there also might not even be a word that covers it.

Remember Naarm is actually the word for Port Phillip Bay and not the Melbourne settlement.

Australia works as an inclusive name as it just means Southern Land.

Now New South Wales could probably do with a name change ;)
I would argue all the eastern states could be renamed to something less obviously colonial.
 

Johnny Bananas

Premiership Player Hater
Sep 10, 2010
12,676
17,004
Next door
AFL Club
Brisbane Lions
Has any country changed their name since Swaziland capitalised on the whole internet thing and became eSwatini?
Czech Republic is now Czechia. Turkey is now Turkiye but is apparently still pronounced the same in English.

I doubt anyone will care. They can do what they like.
However, having said that, New Zealanders are famous around the world.
Rhodesians were too, once.
 

Johnny Bananas

Premiership Player Hater
Sep 10, 2010
12,676
17,004
Next door
AFL Club
Brisbane Lions
I don't know about that. It's a core part of the nation/people's identity. It's not the same as renaming some park or local council.

It's the same reasoning that works to support renaming the Rhodesia's of the world. A diverse people's collective identity and sense of self.

It's not an insurmountable obstacle but it's not meaningless.
I understand it's important to many. But for me, it's not enough to simply accept something like that as is. I need to ask, why? Why are people's identities tied up in their country being named as a new version of a minor Dutch province? Is it because they grew up calling it that? If so, if the next generation grew up with a different name for the place, would that not be equally valid to them as a marker of identity?

This suggests identity is something subject to change through generations, not permanent. Of course people can want to preserve their old identity, and I'm not suggesting they shouldn't ever try. But it feels to me like the best way to make sense of the modern world is to embrace change as it arises, rather than seeking to remain tied to traditions that may no longer make logical sense. And names can be one of those traditions.
 
Mar 16, 2007
13,851
11,711
Showers Stand
AFL Club
Essendon
I understand it's important to many. But for me, it's not enough to simply accept something like that as is. I need to ask, why? Why are people's identities tied up in their country being named as a new version of a minor Dutch province? Is it because they grew up calling it that? If so, if the next generation grew up with a different name for the place, would that not be equally valid to them as a marker of identity?

This suggests identity is something subject to change through generations, not permanent. Of course people can want to preserve their old identity, and I'm not suggesting they shouldn't ever try. But it feels to me like the best way to make sense of the modern world is to embrace change as it arises, rather than seeking to remain tied to traditions that may no longer make logical sense. And names can be one of those traditions.
I think you're getting hung up on the Dutch thing a bit. The etymology of the name is not the issue here. I don't really think Victorians hold a candle for Queen Victoria.

Inertia is no good reason to stand in the way of change, but it is more than inertia. There is a reason why changing the name of Rhodesia was so easy and changing the name of Macedonia was so hard, and its not because one group of people were inherently open minded to change and the other group were not, it's about the meaning that name has to a group of people, and what it says about them. Try changing the name back to Rhodesia and see how far you get.

Its not to say that it can't or shouldn't happen. It's just more complicated than inertia.
 
I think you're getting hung up on the Dutch thing a bit. The etymology of the name is not the issue here. I don't really think Victorians hold a candle for Queen Victoria.

Inertia is no good reason to stand in the way of change, but it is more than inertia. There is a reason why changing the name of Rhodesia was so easy and changing the name of Macedonia was so hard, and its not because one group of people were inherently open minded to change and the other group were not, it's about the meaning that name has to a group of people, and what it says about them. Try changing the name back to Rhodesia and see how far you get.

Its not to say that it can't or shouldn't happen. It's just more complicated than inertia.
Rhodesia to Zimbabwe wasn't easy either, Mugabe's Shona majority brutally put down the Matabele minority during the Gukurahundi in the 80s.
 
Back