NZ Maori Surnames with more than one word, is there a convention,code of practice?

Question

Kia ora Koutou e hoa ma, e nga kaihanga o "Te Rakaunui" o te Ao!  , which translates as ... Greetings to you all - friends, builders of the Big Tree of the World. 

My Question relates to my Maori Surnames that have two words, to be precise they have the prefix of 'Te', such as 'Te Kaho'. How should this be entered? 

TeKaho | Te-Kaho | Te_Kaho

I have been using a hyphen, the 2nd example, because of my own double banger surname.  My birth surname was Howie.  However I was raised by my Maternal Grandparents, Haywards, with no sons only daughters, so I legally changed my name by Deedpoll to Hayward-Howie.  However, there are no double banger names traditionally ... "Te Kaho" as a name is written as it is, two words.

Surnames with "Te" are prevalent in Maori names.   A simple translation for Te, is The, but it modifies the word as well... such as Wera means hot, but Te Wera means : The Heat.  Te is also used to denote prestige, by its use, to make it formal.  

Okay, sorry, waffling, is there a convention for two word surnames that I can use as a guide. 

Training myself as a Data Doctor, 16 out of my 18 suggestions are related to the spellng of Maori words, which I was quite pleased with, especially because none of them were spelt wrong, just spelt Maori.    

Answer 1

If you use the hyphen the system should work fine.

Leaving the gap really trips the Wikitree system up.

Kia ora, from a fellow kiwi

Good Luck.

Comments

Leaving a gap tends to the two parts of the name being considered seperate but using the underscore as in Te_Kaho, tells the Wikitree programming yes it is two words but they are supposed to be together and please display them as two words when you can.

Using a hyphen will always hold them together and will display as such and will be searched as such. (not the ideal for this combination)

Graeme O

Fellow Kiwi Wikitreer & Data Doctor but the non Te Reo speaking Pakeha variety

Side note - if you haven't already seen this from a couple of years ago check out https://www.wikitree.com/g2g/286843/new-zealand-maori-nameing-conventions-the-wikitree-database

Answer 2

I believe there are other surnames (particularly aristocratic) which are often entered with the space.

Comments

Good point Amy, I'm the profile manager for 3rd Maori King Mahuta, and 4th Maori King Te Rata, so I traced it back to 1st Maori King Potatau, and saw you were right, then I thought ... now how did Marc do that?    I shall have to ask him. 

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There actually shouldn't be any issue in adding a name with a space. Many of the European aristocratic families (House of De Vere, for example) are entered with the space and I can't identify any issue with it.