Macrons in Domain Names: History and a Practical Guide to IDNs in .nz (2006–2026)

Māori Macrons in Domain Names: The History and a Practical Guide to IDNs in .nz (2006–2026)

By Dr Karaitiana Taiuru. Consolidated on 10 October 2026 from twelve posts first published between 28 April 2006 and 31 December 2023. Original publication dates are kept throughout.

Key facts at a glance

What: Māori macron vowels (ā ē ī ō ū) can be used in web and email addresses through Internationalised Domain Names (IDNs).
When in .nz: available in all .nz domains from 26 July 2010, after a sunrise period for existing name holders that began on 6 April 2010.
Who started it: I first approached the Domain Name Commission (DNC) and InternetNZ about macrons in .nz in 2006 and campaigned through the 2007 public consultation.
.maori.nz: every .maori.nz name also works as .māori.nz with no extra registration.
.iwi.nz: macrons in .iwi.nz names became available in April 2013.
Best practice: register both the macron and non-macron versions of a Māori word, choose one as primary and 301-redirect the other.
Avoid: umlauts (ä ë ï ö ü) as a substitute for macrons.

What is a Māori language domain name (IDN)?

An Internationalised Domain Name (IDN) is a web or email address written with characters beyond the basic Latin a–z, 0–9 and hyphen. For te reo Māori, that means the five macron vowels, for example www.māori.nz or ngāi-mea.iwi.nz. IDNs are also called indigenous domains, native domains or non-English domains. Here I call them Māori language domains.

Behind the scenes the Domain Name System only handles ASCII, so every IDN has an ASCII equivalent called Punycode, which always begins with xn-- (see the Punycode chart).

Macrons in addresses matter for more than spelling. Correct orthography is part of the survival and normalisation of te reo Māori online, and the ability of Māori to name ourselves in our own language on the Internet is an expression of Māori data sovereignty.

Timeline: macrons in New Zealand web addresses

Date	Milestone
2001	IDNs become possible globally. InternetNZ treats .nz IDNs as a low priority from 2001 to 2006.
September 2002	.maori.nz is created as New Zealand’s eleventh second-level domain, following an application by Te Whānau Ipurangi / New Zealand Māori Internet Society.
2004	Universal standards for typing macrons become widespread.
28 April 2006	I publish a tutorial on Māori language domain names and ask InternetNZ to reconsider IDNs in .nz.
11 October 2007	The DNC opens public consultation on implementing IDNs in .nz. ICANN begins its own IDN rollout the following week.
19 December 2007	DNC public submissions close.
August 2009	Macrons become usable in popular international domains such as .com, .org, .net and .tv.
6 April 2010	One-month sunrise period opens for existing .nz holders to pre-register macron variants.
26 July 2010	Macrons go live across all .nz domains. All authorised .nz registrars must be able to register them.
15 May 2011	Guidance published for .iwi.nz and .maori.nz holders on running macron and non-macron addresses together.
5 June 2011	Registration guide for .nz and international macron domains published.
15 April 2013	Macrons become available in .iwi.nz through a collaboration between GodZone Internet Services and myself as .iwi.nz moderator.
25 January 2015	My research finds most email clients and New Zealand government systems do not recognise macrons in domain names.
15 April 2020	Updated advice on macron .nz domain names, SEO and registrars published.
31 December 2023	Understanding Domain Names in New Zealand (2016, with Te Rangikaiwhiria Kemara) republished online.

The history in detail

2006: Māori language domains before .nz allowed them

First published 28 April 2006 as a PDF; republished 2023.

Until the mid-2000s, typing a macron was laborious, needing custom software or several menu clicks. By 2006 that had changed: Unicode macrons and the orthographic conventions of Te Taura Whiri i te Reo Māori (the Māori Language Commission) were supported by default, and New Zealand editions of Windows XP and later included free macron software.

Globally, macrons in web addresses had been possible since 2001, but not in .nz. InternetNZ had treated the matter as unimportant from 2001 until 2006, when I approached them to reconsider. Meanwhile, Māori language domains were being registered in .com and other suffixes, often purely to sell back to Māori at prices up to 1000% of the original cost. At the time, Net Mania was the only New Zealand company registering Māori language IDNs, and only in international suffixes such as .com and .net.

Browser support then required Internet Explorer 7 (or IE 5 with a plug-in), Mozilla 1.4+, Netscape 7.1+, Opera 7.11+ or Safari 1.2+. All modern browsers now support IDNs natively.

2007: The Domain Name Commission consultation

First published 11 October 2007 and 19 December 2007.

On 11 October 2007 the DNC opened public consultation on implementing IDNs in the .nz hierarchy. Once implemented, people would be able to use macrons in their web and email addresses. The following week ICANN began implementing IDNs internationally, and the .asia top-level domain had just launched. The Internet was becoming a genuinely global, less English-centric tool.

Submissions closed on 19 December 2007. My observations on the submissions opposing IDNs in .nz were:

Phishing was the main objection, yet most phishing attacks on .nz brands already used .com or other domains.
The DNC was consulting on one character set of only five characters, yet several submissions argued about Cyrillic characters that were not in scope.
Double vowels (e.g. “maaori”) were the existing workaround, but would not meet the DNC’s dispute resolution procedures if a dispute arose.
Māori speakers generally have the software and knowledge to type macrons, just as Asian language communities can type their own scripts. Non-speakers outside a language community should not dictate what that community can do with its language.

Many individuals and organisations recognised that New Zealand alone does not own or control the Internet, and that it is used by far more than English speakers.

2009: Macrons arrive in .com, .org, .net and .tv

First published 6 and 7 August 2009.

With little media attention in New Zealand and the Pacific, non-English characters became available in many popular international extensions such as .com, .org, .net and .tv. Māori could now spell words correctly in web addresses, and addresses such as www.māori.org became legitimate.

As has happened to many Indigenous peoples, prime Māori addresses were quickly taken by non-Māori individuals and cybersquatted, echoing the launch of .maori.nz, when a non-Māori Auckland company bulk-registered names and offered them for resale at 100 times the original price.

Macrons also allowed more creative, distinctly Māori addresses outside .nz, using extensions available through New Zealand registrars such as .io, .am, .fm, .in and .tv (for example ReoMāori.fm). Other extensions suit te reo Māori too, such as Angola’s .ao, but many have registration restrictions.

At the time I expected macrons in .nz in Te Wiki o te Reo Māori (Māori Language Week) 2010, after several years of writing to the DNC and its public consultations.

6 April 2010: The .nz sunrise period

First published 6 April 2010.

The DNC launched a one-month sunrise period allowing existing .nz domain holders to pre-register the macron variant of their current name. It was a happy day for me as the original initiator of this work some three years earlier. Successful sunrise registrations were held for a month, after which normal registrar fees applied. After sunrise, macron names became first come, first served. Importantly, macrons were enabled across all .nz second-level domains, not only .iwi.nz and .maori.nz.

26 July 2010: Macrons go live in .nz

First published 6 September 2010.

The five Māori macrons went live in .nz web addresses at the end of July 2010, with little attention from registrars or the media. Most registrars chose not to advertise it. In September 2010, of the 66 authorised registrars required to offer macron registrations, only four advertised it and made it easy (1API, Affordable Domains, Swizzlestick and TPP Internet). The DNC labels such registrars “IDN friendly”.

2011–2013: Macrons in .iwi.nz

First published 15 May 2011 and 15 April 2013.

The main communities of interest for macrons are holders of .iwi.nz and .maori.nz names, though any .nz address can carry one. In 2011 the DNC recognised Metaname, 1API and GodZone Internet Services as the most macron-friendly providers, and registering a macron .iwi.nz name was a manual process.

On 15 April 2013, a collaboration between GodZone Internet Services and myself as .iwi.nz moderator meant iwi could, for the first time, choose macrons when registering in the exclusive .iwi.nz space, making addresses such as ngāi-mea.iwi.nz feasible. Although the technology had existed for three years, only two New Zealand companies offered macrons because of the commercial cost and return, which made progress slow and frustrating. Older .iwi.nz moderation policies stated that “technology prohibits the use of macrons in domain names”; that restriction no longer applies.

For .iwi.nz holders, a macron name is a separate registration and fee, but having both avoids confusion for visitors who naturally type a macron or whose autocorrect adds one. For te reo Māori revitalisation, holding both versions, or only the macron version, is also a strong position.

2020: Updated advice

First published 15 April 2020 as an update to the 5 June 2011 post.

Since 26 July 2010 every authorised .nz registrar must be able to register a macron name, but not all offer the service. I expected larger providers to add it over time given the international market for non-English domains. My 2020 advice on registrars, .maori.nz, Punycode and SEO is combined into the practical guide below.

How to register a domain name with a macron

Check the current list of authorised .nz registrars published by the .nz regulator (InternetNZ / Domain Name Commission). Look for registrars that support IDNs; if a registrar does not advertise it, email them and ask.
Register both spellings if your name is a Māori word normally written with a macron, for example māoritanga.nz and maoritanga.nz. These are two separate registrations.
Choose a primary address and set a permanent (301) redirect from the other, which preserves search engine rankings.
Configure hosting: ask your host to add the macron domain as an “add-on domain” or alias, using its Punycode form if required.
Update your SSL certificate so it covers both the macron (Punycode) and non-macron hostnames.
Decide on email. Many email clients and some government systems still mishandle macron addresses, so I recommend keeping a non-macron email address as your main one.

For international domains (.com, .org, etc.), some registrars only accept searches in Punycode or HTML entity form. For example, ngā.com may need to be entered as xn--ng-ela.com or ngā.com.

SEO: I have seen no evidence that running a macron domain alongside a non-macron domain harms search rankings, provided one redirects to the other.

Double vowels or dropping the macron? For the non-macron version, drop the macron (maori) rather than using double vowels (maaori), and run it alongside the macron domain.

Registrar snapshots over time (historical)

These lists are kept for the record and will be out of date. Always check the current authorised registrar list before registering.

2006: Net Mania (international IDNs only; .nz did not yet support macrons).
September 2010: 1API, Affordable Domains, Swizzlestick, TPP Internet.
May–June 2011: Metaname, 1API (Germany), GodZone Internet Services. 1API offered macrons in all available extensions.
April 2020 (authorised .nz registrars): 1API, GodZone Internet Services, ideegeo Group (iwantmyname), Metaname, Nominate.com, Openhost, Ports Group AB, Vetta Online. For .iwi.nz, GodZone was the only one of the two primary registrars offering macrons.

.maori.nz and .māori.nz are the same address

A little-known fact: by default, every .maori.nz name also works with a macron on the second-level domain. taiuru.maori.nz and taiuru.māori.nz are the same address and need no separate registration. This applies only to the .maori.nz part; a macron in the name before it (e.g. ngāitahu.maori.nz) is a separate registration.

Even if you do not plan to use the macron, configure your web server to recognise .māori.nz. Many Māori writers and modern software automatically add the macron to “Māori”, and staff frequently create links that their systems have auto-macronised. Those links only work if your server accepts the macron address, so without it you lose visitors. First test whether your .maori.nz site already resolves at .māori.nz; if not, ask your host to add the macron version as an add-on domain.

A real example: www.ngaitahu.māori.nz is configured to redirect to www.ngaitahu.maori.nz. Note that without also registering ngāitahu.maori.nz, someone else could register that orthographically correct spelling.

Punycode chart for Māori macrons

Punycode represents Unicode in the limited ASCII character set used for Internet hostnames. If a web server, email client or browser is not fully UTF-8 compliant, a macron address is shown in Punycode. Note that Punycode is calculated for a whole label (the part between dots), not letter by letter, so the entries below are the codes for each macron vowel on its own.

Character	Punycode (standalone)	HTML entity	Unicode
ā	`xn--yda`	`ā`	U+0101
ē	`xn--hea`	`ē`	U+0113
ī	`xn--5ea`	`ī`	U+012B
ō	`xn--4fa`	`ō`	U+014D
ū	`xn--zga`	`ū`	U+016B

Worked examples

Address	Punycode
`www.māori.nz`	`www.xn--mori-qsa.nz`
`www.māorimacrons.com`	`www.xn--morimacrons-jjb.com`
`ngāitahu.maori.nz`	`xn--ngitahu-t3a.maori.nz`
`ngāi-mea.iwi.nz`	`xn--ngi-mea-t3a.iwi.nz`
`ngā.com`	`xn--ng-ela.com`

For web developers: use the Punycode form in href links where no non-macron alternative exists, and the numeric HTML entities above (or UTF-8) to display macrons in page text. Web hosts and mail servers normally require the Punycode form when configuring an IDN.

Issues and risks for Māori language domains

First identified 28 April 2006 and 7 August 2009; still relevant.

Umlauts (ä ë ï ö ü). For years umlauts were used as a stand-in for macrons, and old Māori fonts rendered umlauts as macrons. A user with such a font set as default would see www.mäorimacrons.com as www.māorimacrons.com, enabling phishing. Umlauts are not part of te reo Māori, and since few speakers still use Māori fonts, umlaut domains are not recommended.
Spelling variants. A Māori word can be written with many combinations of macronised and plain vowels, so one name may exist as several different domains. Register the variants that matter to you.
Cybersquatting. Generic Māori names are bought to resell at inflated prices; 1000% mark-ups are common. It happened at the launch of .maori.nz and continues in .com and .net.
Intellectual property. As with all web addresses, Māori language domains raise trade mark and cultural IP issues, including misuse of iwi and hapū names.
Users who cannot type macrons. Macron input has been freely available for well over a decade, but users without it can still reach your site via Punycode or your non-macron address. Implementing the technology for the many lets the language survive and grow; the minority will adapt, as they did when Unicode macrons became standard in written te reo Māori.
Email and government systems. My January 2015 research found most email clients and New Zealand government systems did not recognise non-English characters in domain names. Keep a non-macron email address.

Background: understanding domain names in New Zealand

From Karaitiana N. Taiuru and Te Rangikaiwhiria Kemara, “Understanding Domain Names in New Zealand, with information relating to .iwi.nz and .maori.nz and domain name disputes”, first published 2016 as a PDF and republished 31 December 2023. It was originally written for members of the New Zealand Māori Internet Society and the media who followed the .maori.nz process. Details reflect the situation when written.

Domain name structure

A domain name is a unique Internet address used for websites and email. In nzmis.org.nz, .nz is New Zealand’s country code top-level domain (ccTLD), assigned from the ISO 3166-1 list and managed in New Zealand by InternetNZ. .org is the second-level domain, describing a community of interest, and nzmis is the third-level name you register. Registrants pay to use a name for a period; nobody owns it outright.

Third-level names may use a–z, 0–9 and hyphens (and, since 2010, macrons), may not start or end with a hyphen, and have length limits. Choose a name that describes your content so people remember it. Generic top-level domains such as .com sit outside the country code system.

Moderated domains

A moderated second-level domain is checked by a moderator before registration, to protect its community of interest. When written, the moderated .nz domains were .iwi, .cri, .govt and .mil. Many people and organisations tried to register .iwi.nz names, including a security firm using the name of a well-known prison.

The difference between .iwi.nz and .maori.nz

.iwi.nz is moderated and limited to traditional Māori iwi that are legal bodies, hapū of a traditional iwi, and taura here groups acting with their iwi’s permission, with some provision for established urban Māori authorities. Only genuine iwi names are accepted, not tribal project or company names. It was initiated by a government department, which some saw as controversial.
.maori.nz is unmoderated and open to anyone: iwi, hapū, marae, whānau, individuals, organisations and businesses. Successful .iwi.nz applicants can also hold a .maori.nz name.

How .maori.nz was created

Te Whānau Ipurangi / New Zealand Māori Internet Society, which I chaired, applied for .maori.nz on behalf of all Māori. Our second and final application (2000–2001) argued that .iwi.nz served only 30–40 groups, that “Māori” is how Māori describe ourselves, and that as an official language and Treaty partner, Māori should be reflected in the .nz naming system. We framed it as a people asking to name themselves. InternetNZ created .maori.nz in September 2002, the first new .nz second-level domain since 1996.

Domain name disputes

If the name you want is taken, your options are:

Choose a different name, for example adding Ngāti or Ngāi, or a hyphen. This is the simplest option.
Buy it from the holder. This is strongly not advised, because it rewards cybersquatting.
Seek its return through the .nz Dispute Resolution Service, the Fair Trading Act 1986, the Trade Marks Act 2002 or the courts (or, for .com and similar, the UDRP). This usually needs legal advice.

Frequently asked questions

Can you use Māori macrons in a .nz domain name?

Yes. Since 26 July 2010 the five macron vowels ā, ē, ī, ō and ū can be used in any .nz domain. Authorised registrars must be able to register them, though not all advertise it.

Is .maori.nz the same as .māori.nz?

Yes. Every .maori.nz name also works as .māori.nz without a separate registration. Your host may need to add the macron version as an add-on domain.

Can iwi use macrons in .iwi.nz?

Yes, since April 2013. A macron .iwi.nz name is a separate registration from the non-macron version.

Do upper-case macron letters work?

Domain names are not case-sensitive. Ā and ā resolve to the same address, so register and publish lower case.

Should I register both macron and non-macron versions?

Yes, if your name is a Māori word normally written with a macron. Choose a primary and 301-redirect the other.

Does a second macron domain hurt SEO?

I have seen no evidence of harm when one domain permanently redirects to the other.

Should I use umlauts instead of macrons?

No. Umlauts are not te reo Māori and create look-alike phishing risks.

Original posts consolidated here

Māori Language Domain Names (28 April 2006)
IDNs in .nz (11 October 2007)
Māori macrons in web addresses – IDNs (19 December 2007)
Māori macrons in domain names (6 August 2009)
Māori Language with IDNs (7 August 2009)
Macrons in .nz domains (6 April 2010)
Introduction to macrons in NZ web addresses (6 September 2010)
Macrons in .iwi.nz domains (15 May 2011)
Registering a macron domain name (5 June 2011)
Macrons available in .iwi.nz web address (15 April 2013)
Macrons in .nz domain names (15 April 2020)
Understanding Domain Names in New Zealand (2016; republished 31 December 2023)