Featherston is not the only New Zealand place to have never made its name official - in fact Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch haven't either.
The Wairarapa township hit the headlines after it was discovered the name it's gone by for more than 150 years, has never been gazetted.
But the New Zealand Geographic Board says actually, around 70 per cent of New Zealand place names haven't been officially recorded.
Secretary Wendy Shaw says when a place name is gazetted, only that name can be used to refer to it in legal documents - but other than that, there's little significance.
"There are many populated places, cities, towns and suburbs that are not official names but they've been used for many years. They are on maps and charts so people typically use them."Â
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