Girl, so confusing.

Gender attitudes might be sliding backwards, the Black Ferns don’t enjoy the same media coverage or support as other national teams, and last year saw more Marks than women leading NZX companies, but ladies’ names can be found increasingly adorning buildings around the motu – our restaurants, bars and cafes.

Judging by recent naming conventions, if there’s a new establishment opening in your neighbourhood, the odds of it being called something like “Maude’s” or “Gretel” are good enough for an Ōtepoti student gambling syndicate to take notice.

All names are loaded with meaning, and in the hospitality industry they have to capture the essence of a place, resonate with punters and (hopefully) facilitate commercial success. It’s a high-stakes decision.

Choosing a human name for a business can, depending on punctuation placement, imply ownership (a person at the helm) or a pluralistic vision – though ditching the possessive apostrophe is usually an “aesthetic” decision. Regardless of where it goes, the effect is a shortcut to familiarity; patrons declaring “let’s go to so-and-so’s” sound like they’re on first-name terms with an owner, or popping around to someone’s house. It’s casual, personal, intimate – a human touch in an era when your other options often include contactless food delivery and ghost kitchens.

There’s been a slew of them in recent years, with Tāmaki Makaurau particularly over indexed when it comes to warm, inviting women’s names. There’s Alma and Ada (part of a crop of openings with “basically the same name” that a confused Duncan Greive noticed back in 2023) and, until it shut last year, Annabelle’s. And that’s just the As.

Estelle’s is new to the Grand Millennium. The Karangahape Road vicinity is home to Coco’s Cantina, Bar Magda (named after Saint Mary Magdalene) and, from 2019 until it closed earlier this year, Bar Celeste – founders Emma Ogilvie and Nick Landsman also have Gloria’s downtown. 

There’s the enigmatically named Freida Margolis in Grey Lynn, and Ponsonby has a fair few too. Daphnes owners Clare and Joost van den Berg told Johanna Thornton that using a woman’s name makes a restaurant feel personal, warm and inviting; their Ponsonby Road taverna is named after a myth from Greek mythology. The titular character of Gigi is fictional, from Marseille and “once graced the runways of Paris and Milan”. Less mysteriously named is Ponsonby’s country music bar Jolene.

Many are personal, a nod to relatives. Michael Meredith named Metita in honour of his late mother. Esther is named after Sean Connolly’s grandmother. Edie’s owner and chef Charlie Lodge named his cafe-slash-wine-bar after daughter Edith. Popular Grey Lynn osteria Lilian was named after chef Otis Gardner Schapiro’s grandmother; he’d never met her, and discovered the name actually belonged to her twin sister. Not to be confused with the equally good Lillius in Grafton, named after co-founder Fraser McCarthy’s grandmother, Lillias (the “us” tweak is a reference to he and partner Shannon Vandy, according to Spy).

When it opened in October 2024, Margo’s was named after two different Margarets, co-owner Fran Mazza’s mum, as well as familiar Karangahape Road figure Margaret Hoffman (“got a dollar” was stencilled in gold on the bistro window). The bistro, a sibling eatery to Ada down the road, soon changed its name to St Marg’s – there was already a Margo’s in Queenstown – before being taken over by another Mazza-Carson family venture, the neighbouring Pie Rollas.

Speaking of families, things are getting particularly maternal in Auckland with the new openings Mother and Mama, which join Yael Shochat’s longstanding eatery Ima (Hebrew for mum) and Wellington’s Sweet Mother’s Kitchen.

The capital has plenty of proper nouns, including Rita and Aunty Mena’s. Loretta is the “fictional younger sister” to sibling restaurant Floriditas, both located on Cuba Street. Margot’s owners Juno Miers and Tom Adam liken their Newtown restaurant to an eccentric aunt who “drinks and entertains a lot”, but the name’s also a nod to chef Margot Henderson. No longer among their ranks is Daisy’s, which was named by restaurateur Asher Boote in homage to broadcaster Aunt Daisy and, according to Stuff, a woman of a certain age who knows how to throw a great dinner party. The now-shuttered Tory Street restaurant Mabel’s was a tribute to co-owner Marlar Boon’s phwa phwa (grandmother), who opened the country’s first Burmese restaurant. Myrtle, the popular bakery and cafe named after co-owner Sarah Bullock’s grandmother, has closed too.

New Plymouth has Emmalou’s, named after co-owners Emma Hedley and Steve “Lou” Clark, and Monica’s Eatery, which “embodies the spirit” of notable arts patron Monica Brewster. Another accomplished woman, opera singer Rosina Buckman, was the inspiration for Rosina in Hastings, where you’ll also find Irish pub Rosie O’Gradys. (The trend hasn’t yet appeared to have taken hold in Hamilton – where ingredients or verbs are a more popular naming choice – or Whanganui.)

Ōtautahi’s home to the quaint sounding Bessie and Edith, named after the owner’s pet greyhound, as well as Delilah and Francesca’s (Auckland has one of those too, so does Christchurch). Estelle cafe is named after the niece of owner Tom Worthington, who also runs an eponymous sandwich spot nearby. Down in Dunedin there’s Maggies (no apostrophe) but that’s named after a literal bird – the spot used to go by Morning Magpie.

What’s with all this feminine energy when it comes to hospo businesses? Some cafes, bars and restaurants are explicit about their naming origins, making it part of the sell or “storytelling”. Others are more opaque, and a surprising amount of establishments don’t have an “about” section on their websites at all. 

The effect is warm and nurturing. Women’s names are generally associated with the care expected of traditional gender roles – the emotional and literal nourishment provided by assorted maternal figures. Many of the current wave sound old, lending a sense of history and legacy to a place. Others are a bit flirty, suggesting memories of past lovers or the possibility of romance (good for a date spot).

The whole thing is a bit of a global phenomenon. In 2021 the Sydney Morning Herald noted a plethora of “grandma” names like Margaret, Lola, Ursula, Lana, Apollonia, Matilda, Marion, Martha and Audrey, pointing out it was “mostly men who are naming their new restaurants after women”. Eater flagged the same thing two years earlier, theorising it “signals a specific type of hospitality”, as restaurateurs wanted to communicate home-cooking and old-school hospitality, while also “telegraph an explicitly female energy” for the #MeToo era.

It’s common in the UK too, with chefs inspired to give tribute to “grandmothers and homemakers” when naming their ventures. By 2022 Bon Appétit was declaring a full-on vibe shift, as hospitality embraced the nostalgia and authority conveyed by nouns and names with European origins (names sounded French or Italian and were accompanied by an aperitivo section on the menu).

But what about the lads? They’re there, just not so many. You’ll find Fred’s, Romeo’s, Nicolini’s, Charley Noble, Fidel’s, Ernesto’s and Logan Brown down in Wellington. Further south, Christchurch is home to Earl, the aforementioned Tom’s Sandwich Shop and Fat Eddie’s. (There’s an Eddies in Mount Maunganui too.) Dunedin has Charlie Sparrow’s and Mr Fox, and in Queenstown you’ll find Billy’s, Frank’s and Joe’s. Auckland can count Mr Morris, Otto and Hugo’s Bistro (RIP Antoine’s and Vinnies).