The naming of New Brighton was apparently done on a 'spur of moment' decision by William Fee, an early settler of the area. When Guise Brittan, the Waste Lands Commissioner, visited the area in December 1860, he was recognized and Fee chalked 'New Brighton' on a wooden plank, supposedly in reference to his fellow settler Stephen Brooker, who had come from New Brighton in England. The M?ori name for the area is Kaiuau (kai means food and aua is Yellow-eye mullet) or O-ruapaeroa (an east wind blowing along the shore).
The suburb is frequently referred to simply as Brighton, occasionally leading to confusion with Brighton near Dunedin
