If you have ever ordered something personalised with a te reo Māori name, you probably already know what happens next. The macrons disappear. Tāmati comes back as Tamati. Mārama becomes Marama. The name is close enough that nobody says anything, and wrong enough that you notice every time you look at it.
We emboss macrons. This page is about why that matters and how to order it.
We were the first company in New Zealand to offer macron embossing, and it is not a novelty for us - we set them in gold foil most weeks. This was not an afterthought. As soon as we decided to personalise our baby books, Māori names being done correctly was a key factor. Whānau is one of the most requested words we emboss, usually on a family photo album or a recipe journal, where the book belongs to, or will be handed down to the whole whānau everyone rather than to one person.
A macron is not just an accent
In te reo Māori a macron marks a long vowel, and vowel length changes the word. The usual example is keke and kēkē - cake, and armpit. Matua is a parent; mātua is parents. Wahine is a woman; wāhine is women.
So dropping a macron is not like dropping an accent from a French word, where the meaning survives but the pronounciation changes. It can alter completely what the word says, and it changes how the name is pronounced by anyone reading it aloud — including, one day, your tamaiti or tamariki.
What we can emboss
Our foil embossing includes the full set of macronised vowels, upper and lower case:
- Ā Ē Ī Ō Ū
- ā ē ī ō ū
Alongside the English alphabet in both cases, numerals, and é and ë. We will always be open to custom requests too, so please don't hesitate to reach out - our DMs are always open!
An example of a completely custom journal with the te reo Māori 'to my daughter' is below, 'ki tāku tamāhine'
How to order a name with macrons
- Choose your journal, baby book or photo album.
- Add personalisation and type the name exactly as it should appear, macrons included.
- If your keyboard doesn't produce macrons easily, type the name without them and add a note telling us which vowels are long. We would far rather ask than guess.
On an iPhone or iPad, holding down a vowel on the keyboard brings up the macronised version. On a Mac, the Māori keyboard layout can be added in System Settings. On Windows, the Māori keyboard is available under Language settings.
If you are not sure
Plenty of parents choosing a te reo name for the first time aren't certain where the macrons sit, and there is no shame in that. Ask whānau or kaumātua. Check with someone who speaks te reo. Te Aka Māori Dictionary is a good place to look a word up.
We would always rather hold an order for a day and get the name right than emboss it quickly and get it wrong. A book like this gets kept for decades. It is worth the extra email.
We would always rather hold an order for a day and get the name right than emboss it quickly and get it wrong. A book like this gets kept for decades. It is worth the extra email.
Which books can be embossed
Any of our personalised journals and albums - including the Baby Book Your First Years, the journals to my daughter and to my son journals, and our linen photo albums.
If you are still deciding which book to start with, our guide to the best baby book in New Zealand walks through the options.
Full details of character availability, positioning and turnaround are on our monogramming page.