Nauru, the world’s third-smallest country located in the South Pacific, announced at the United Nations General Assembly that it has changed its official name and pronunciation to Naoero. President David Adeang explained that while internationally known as “Nauru,” which was easier for outsiders to pronounce, the nation is reclaiming its indigenous name “Naoero” (pronounced Now-ero) to reflect its cultural heritage more accurately. This change includes altering the country’s international code from NRU to NRO and renaming its people as dei-Naoero instead of Nauruan.
Written locally by qwen2.5:14b on 2026-09-23,
using this article's own text rather than the other coverage of the
same event (that is the story summary below).
Story summary
At the 81st session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York, President David Adeang announced that the South Pacific island nation of Nauru was officially renaming itself Naoero. This move aims to reclaim and affirm its heritage, shifting from a name adopted due to pronunciation difficulties by non-natives. The change, which includes altering the country’s international code from NRU to NRO, emphasizes cultural identity rather than being seen as a mere rebranding effort. The president highlighted that this decision is about remembering who they “have always been” and underscores efforts to preserve indigenous traditions for future generations of Nauruans, now referred to as dei-Naoero.
Written for “Naoero Name Change Debut” on 2026-10-05,
grounded in this article and the 2 other(s) covering the same event.
The tiny South Pacific island nation of Nauru, its president said, had changed its name — and reclaimed its heritage in the process.
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President David Adeang addressed the 81st session of the United Nations General Assembly, the world's largest gathering of leaders on behalf of his nation.
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“I have travelled far,” he said Tuesday at the U.N. General Assembly in New York.
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he → travel → York
What was known to the world for many years as Nauru, Adeang said, was returning to the name and pronunciation of its past: Naoero.
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“There are moments in the life of a nation when its people are called to remember who they have always been,” he added.
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Though the names are similar and, in essence, the same word, the shift in spelling and pronunciation represents the nation's effort to recast — rebrand, even — itself for its own people as much as for the outside world.
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He called it not a change but an effort to “affirm a truth.”
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“For many years, the world has known our country as Nauru.
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Nauru is how our name sounded to those who found it hard to say, and the world kept it,” Adeang said.
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“But it is not the name our people used among themselves.
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The nation, an eight-square-mile island with about 12,000 people and the world’s third-smallest country, became independent in 1968 after longtime colonial rule under the United Kingdom, New Zealand, Australia and Germany.
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It announced the renaming in August after signalling its intent in February.
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The country’s international code is changing from NRU to NRO, and its people will be known as dei-Naoero instead of Nauruan.
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people → change → Nauruan
Commonly known abroad by the pronunciation of Now-roo, the new name is spoken as Now-ero.
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Across the past century, other nations have renamed themselves or tweaked their names for various reasons, from modernisation to rejection of colonialism.
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The African nation of Eswatini changed its name from Swaziland in 2018.
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In Africa, Dahomey became Benin after a 1975 coup, and Rhodesia became Zimbabwe in 1980 after shedding colonial rule.
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Siam became Thailand in 1939 to foster ethnic unity and shed a foreign label.
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Turkey, meanwhile, has been officially named Turkiye since 1920 but requested in 2022 that the United Nations use the spelling and pronunciation as its name in English as well — in part to avoid confusion by underscoring that the bird wasn't the word.
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The list goes on.
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Persia became Iran.
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Burma became Myanmar.
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Adeang's remarks Tuesday reflected this as he carefully pronounced the name to differentiate it from its former pronunciation.
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“We do not make this choice to erase our past.
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We make it because we honour it,” he said.
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“That name carries the memory of our ancestors, our language, and our identity.
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Today, we restore Naoero.”
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And then, after completing his address about the issues that face his people — rising seas, economics, respect on the global stage — he concluded his address with three words:
“Say our name.”
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The Aporia
