Maori Names, Nature Names, Virtue Names, New Zealand Names, Polynesian Names, Pacific Islander Names

A Maori and Moriori name from the word rongo meaning peace. In this sense the name is unisex.

Rongo is also the Maori god of foods that are cultivated such as kumara or sweet potato. As such he was a very important god. It's thought that the word for peace in Maori came from this god, as kumara (which Rongo was believed to have given to the world) needed a lot of care and grew best in times of peace when time could be dedicated to it.

In most of New Zealand Rongo was the son of Rangi and Papa, the brother of Tane. One of Rongo's brother threw storms into the world meaning Rongo and his brother Haumia sought refuge in the ground with food. In some tribe's tradition, notably the Ngati Awa, Rongo is instead the son of Tane and a man. He finds the kumara on a trip to a star and comes back to earth with it as food for the people.