Most of New Zealand's place names are not officialJust because a place has a name doesn't mean it's official. Official place names are those that have been through the New Zealand Geographic Board. They run a process to make sure that place names follow a consistent and standardised approach, taking into account original Maori place names, history, spelling, and other factors in deciding on an official place name. There are currently nearly 16,000 official place names and about 33,000 recorded place names. Check out the board's gazetteer, the board's record of all New Zealand's place names.

Source: Otago Daily Times January 25, 2017 01:48 UTC