Naming Day

	Naming Day
	Aspect of Society
Location	Metru Nui; Mata Nui
Purpose	Acknowledgement of Matoran's deeds
Effects	Matoran's names are changed

"Even as the Toa became the Toa Nuva, so too will these heroes have new names when their tale is carved in the chronicles."
— Turaga Vakama, Naming Day

Naming Day is a biannual^[1] Matoran holiday celebrated in the Matoran Universe.

History

In order to commemorate deeds certain Matoran have done, the custom of changing their names arose amongst the Matoran. It eventually evolved into a special event encompassing the entire day.

After the Bohrok-Kal strike, and coincided with the Rebuilding, Turaga Vakama called forth the Matoran who had proven themselves in the battles against the Bohrok swarms:

Jaller: Originally "Jala", he was awarded the name change for defending against the Bohrok swarms and the Bohrok-Kal.
Macku: Originally "Maku", she was awarded the name change for defending against the Bohrok swarms, particularly in Ga-Koro.
Hewkii: Originally "Huki", he was awarded the name change for defending against the Bohrok swarms, particularly in Ga-Koro.
Pewku: Originally "Puku", she was given the name by the Av-Matoran Chronicler Takua when he wasn't awarded a new name himself, despite helping greatly.

After the ceremony, the Turaga told Takua to put the new names of the Matoran on the Wall of History.

Customs

Naming Day typically involves Matoran having their name altered due to their good deeds. Typically, the spelling is made longer and the pronunciation remains the same, though this is not always the case.^[2] Having their name changed is a rare privilege for a Matoran, and there aren't many Matoran who have received the honor. However, most Matoran enjoyed Naming Days because they meant a day off of work.

On Metru Nui, ceremonies were held in the Coliseum, Knowledge Towers would open their observatories to all, and a few lucky Matoran had life-sized stone statues of themselves created. Present-giving is also a part of Naming Day, although this practice was followed more on Metru Nui than Mata Nui. Matoran were known to compile lists of presents they would like to receive. Matoran legend has it that on Naming Days in Metru Nui, Mata Nui would fly through the chutes, giving presents to all good Matoran.

Trivia

The Naming Day concept was created by The LEGO Group when they were requested to change the names of several characters to avoid a lawsuit by representatives of the Māori people, who were angry that The LEGO Group was misusing words of their language. Some of the names changed were not from the Māori language, but rather from different Polynesian languages. Despite this, a handful of Māori words continued to be used, such as "toa" (meaning warrior) and "tahu" (meaning "to burn").
- As a result of the aforementioned language controversy, Matoran are occasionally referred to by their altered names before they chronologically had them changed (such as "Macku" on Metru Nui).