Aotearoa 's the most widely known and accepted Māori name for New Zealand. It's used by both Māori and non-Māori, and's becoming increasingly widespread in the bilingual names of national organisations, such as the National Library of New Zealand / Te Puna Mātauranga o Aotearoa. Translation Placenames are often difficult to translate, and the original derivation of Aotearoa isn't known for certain. Many meanings have been given for the name. The word can be broken up as: aot… (More on Aotearoa)