Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern with a miniature Cronulla Sharks jersey given as a gift to her daughter Neve by Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison. File photo / Audrey Young
She might just be the only baby in New Zealand to have received gifts from admirers as varied as our future King, a Cuban ambassador, the president of Estonia, and the mayor and councillors of a sparsely-populated North Island district.
Wee Neve Gayford celebrated her first birthday on Friday, and what a year it was, with Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern's bundle of joy making headlines worldwide, inspiring music, art and a children's book, and sparking smiles from the United Nations General Assembly in New York to the Treaty Grounds at Waitangi.
It was also a year of gifts for the country's most famous baby.
They came to her mum from all corners of the globe, from booties to moccasins, from rattles to bracelets, and from soft toy pigs on the Lunar New Year to a miniature Cronulla Sharks shirt on the eve of the NRL season.
The Duke of Cambridge's gift for baby Neve — a buzzy bee with an engraved plaque underneath — drew parallels to his own links with the beloved Kiwi toy, when he was photographed aged 9 months playing with a buzzy bee on the lawn of Government House in Auckland, during the 1983 Royal Tour.
On Friday, Neve's father, Clarke Gayford, tweeted a sweet thank you to the prince, noting the future King and the first baby shared a birthday.
"Happy Birthday Prince William, what a great shared birthday (I'm pretty sure you win with this)," Gayford wrote, after noting he was torn between letting Neve "continue to maul this amazing gift or putting it somewhere safe FOREVER".
The buzzy bee was among dozens of baby gifts the Prime Minister received, in her official capacity and from royalty and heads of state, throughout her baby daughter's first year.
Torn between letting the 1st birthday girl continue to maul this amazing gift or putting it somewhere safe FOREVER.
— Clarke Gayford (@NZClarke) June 21, 2019
Happy Birthday Prince William, what a great shared birthday (I'm pretty sure you win with this) pic.twitter.com/KvXtOcfmfq
A list of the gifts was given to the Herald on Sunday under the Official Information Act, but a request for information on gifts given directly to Neve or her father, Clarke Gayford, before or since the baby's birth was not released because it is not subject to the act.
Gifts received in Ardern's capacity as leader of the Labour Party, such as any from ministerial colleagues or leaders of other political parties, were also treated as "gifts of a personal nature" and not disclosed. National leader Simon Bridges said he did not send the Prime Minister a gift when Neve was born.
The Australians, Chinese and British were the most prolific gift-givers, with three gifts or gift sets from representatives of each, while Japanese parliamentarian Shinjiro Koizumi, who visited New Zealand as the 2018 Prime Minister's fellow, arrived with a hoard of goodies, including daruma dolls, a cat figurine, bib and soft toy.
Little Neve's arrival was met with a generous response from a broad range of nations.
The Saudi Arabians gave a Whitehill silver photo frame, Neve was promised toasty toes thanks to hand-knitted booties from the Norwegian Prime Minister and South Korean President Moon Jae-in gifted the baby a traditional Korean hanbok dress.
Clothes were a popular choice, with Neve receiving an array of booties, onesies and dresses, but St Lucia Prime Minister Allen Chastanet's gift of a rasta hat prompted a delighted Gayford to tweet his appreciation.
"Neve's received a steady trickle of sweet gifts from a huge variety of world leaders, which I would mostly describe as safe and traditional. That was until this just turned up from the PM of St Lucia! ... Yes Mon!!"
Neve's received a steady trickle of sweet gifts from a huge variety of world leaders, which I would mostly describe as safe & traditional.
— Clarke Gayford (@NZClarke) October 24, 2018
That was until this just turned up from the PM of St Lucia!
Seems to work perfect with her Gissy outfit @Amanda_Gillies
Yes Mon!! pic.twitter.com/8d8AVrFOC9
Ardern couldn't be contacted for comment, but the response to the Herald on Sunday noted she had kept all of the gifts, except where the gift was a donation to another organisation.
View this post on InstagramA post shared by Jacinda Ardern (@jacindaardern) on
Two councils and Far North deputy mayor Tania McInnes also marked Neve's arrival with gifts.
McInnes' gift of hand-knitted booties bought from a rural Canterbury shop was noted as an official gift, but was actually a personal one, McInnes said.
"I just wanted to acknowledge something incredibly special."
Masterton District Council made a donation to children's charity KidsCan, while Tararua District Council gave all three members of the family socks from Norsewood-based Kiwi Sock Company.
Mayor Tracey Collis said the donated socks — red for Ardern, green for Gayford and beige with a love heart for Neve — had melted even the toughest hearts when she showed them to her council before they were whisked to the new family.
"Everybody was really excited ... I think it's because we all felt part of the journey, right from the announcement with the fish hooks. As a nation we felt part of it."
Silver lock/pair silver bracelets, from Chinese ambassador to New Zealand Wu Xi
Three soft toy pigs and an artwork (for the Lunar New Year), from Chinese ambassador to New Zealand Wu Xi
Socks/babysuit, from US ambassador-designate to New Zealand Scott Brown and his partner
Baby dress, from Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong
Hand-woven basket, from Victoria Premier Daniel Andrews
Children's books, from Guangdong Province party secretary Li Xi
Large daruma doll, small daruma doll, kendama toy, cat figurine, bib and soft toy, from Japanese Prime Minister's fellow Shinjiro Koizumi
Books and toys, from Estonian President Kersti Kaljulaid
Whitehill silver photo frame, from Royal Embassy of Saudi Arabia charge d'Affaires Saleh Al Nuaiser
Turtle and dolphin soft toys, from Cuban ambassador to New Zealand Mario Alzugaray Rodriguez
Rasta knitted hat and ball with bell inside, from St Lucia Prime Minister Allen Chastanet
Hanbok dress, from South Korean president Moon Jae-in
Hand-knitted booties, from Norwegian Prime Minister Erna Solberg
Bowl, tapa, bilum and baskets, from Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat Secretary-General Dame Meg Taylor
No 10 Downing St and Peter Rabbit onesies, books, from British Prime Minister Theresa May
Buzzy Bee, from Prince William
Ugg boots and miniature Cronulla Sharks shirt, from Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison
RM Williams boots, from Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull
Leather moccasins, books, mohair blanket, from Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau
Donation to KidsCan, from Masterton District Council
Kiwi Sock Company socks for mum, dad and baby, from Tararua District Council
Booties, from Far North deputy mayor Tania McInnes
Alphabet set and sleepsuit, from Governor-General Dame Patsy Reddy and Sir David Gascoigne
Rattle, from Irish Taoiseach Leo Varadkar
Source: Office of the Prime Minister
The birth of Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern's baby Neve may have contributed to the popularity of the name inching up slightly.
But, her mother's high profile around the world wasn't reflected in the names Kiwi parents were giving their newborns, figures showed.
No babies had been named Jacinda since September 23 last year, itself a year after the 2017 election which eventually saw Ardern become New Zealand's 40th Prime Minister, according to Department of Internal Affairs records.
Fewer than 10 babies were named Jacinda in either the first year of the 38-year-old's leadership, or the year before.
Exact numbers are not given if between 1 and 10 babies are given a name, in order to protect the privacy of those children.
Baby Neve may have fared better at influencing Kiwi parents than her parents.
While fewer than 10 babies were given the first baby's middle name of Te Aroha in the year before or since her birth, over the same period for her first name there was a slight increase.
In the year before the little girl's birth 10 babies were named Neve.
In the year since, the name — the Anglicised version of Irish name Niamh, and which means radiant — has been chosen 13 times, the records show.
The first name of the Prime Minister's fiance, TV host Clarke Gayford, also hasn't sparked fierce interest from new mums and dads. Fewer than 10 babies were given the name each year, or part-year, since September 2016.
Over the same three periods the first name of Ardern's main political rival, National Party leader Simon Bridges, also proved unpopular, with 11 babies named Simon between September 2016 and September 2017, and fewer than 10 the following year and in the past nine months. Bridges was chosen as leader of the party in February last year.
Around 60,000 live births are recorded in New Zealand each year.
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