Te Pāti Māori's efforts to restore original name Aotearoa make US late-night TV

South African comedian Trevor Noah, host of The Daily Show on Comedy Central. Photo / Whakaata Māori

The Te Pāti Māori petition to change New Zealand's official name to Aotearoa has received a special mention on late-night TV in the United States.

South African comedian Trevor Noah, host of The Daily Show on Comedy Central, has enjoyed poking fun at what he describes as the 'lame colonisers' who named the country New Zealand in the first place.

"Some international news, New Zealand may be getting a new name," said Noah, on the talk show popular with young, well-educated Americans.

"Yes, Māori politicians have launched a campaign to restore one of the country's original names, Aotearoa," he said, to screams of 'woo-hoo' and audience applause.

Rawiri Waititi and Debbie Ngarewa-Packer, Te Pāti Māori co leaders. Photo / Whakaata Māori

"I think we can all be honest," he continued. "Like, they didn't put a lot of thought into naming it 'New Zealand' in the first place.

"Yeah, colonisers are so lame: 'This is New Zealand. This is New England. New York.'

"Zero effort," he said, to roars of laughter.

Then referring to reality star Kim Kardashian and actor Pete Davidson's recent relationship split, Noah added the final punchline.

"It's like Pete Davidson calling his new girlfriend 'New Kim', said Noah, to bursts of laughter.

"Terrible, it's not gonna work."

In June, Te Pāti Māori presented a petition to Parliament to change the country's name to Aotearoa that it said had racked up more than 70,000 signatures.

The petition is awaiting its next stage, where it will be reported to MPs.