Story: Tauranga Moana

The naming of Mt Maunganui

Ngāti Ranginui, one of the three Tauranga tribes, is named after Ranginui, the great grandson of Tamatea-arikinui, captain of the Tākitimu canoe. Tamatea gave the name of Mt Maunganui to this mountain, originally named Mauao, at the entrance to Tauranga Harbour. Maunganui was the name of a similar mountain in Hawaiki.

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Te Ara – The Encyclopedia of New Zealand

by Jock Phillips

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How to cite this page

Te Awanuiārangi Black, Tauranga Moana – Traditional lands and canoes, Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, https://teara.govt.nz/en/photograph/3853/the-naming-of-mt-maunganui (accessed 8 June 2026).

Story by Te Awanuiārangi Black, published 4 March 2009, updated 1 March 2017.

Comments

Riley Smith
19 July 2012

That is actually incorrect. Mount Maunganui's original name was Rakataura. The name Mt Maunganui was chosen by the first town board of Mount Maunganui during the 1930s. It was never named or known as Maunganui by local Maori.