How about Whamilton instead of Hamilton?

By WARWICK RASMUSSEN - Waikato Times

How about a "w" in Hamilton?

Hamilton's Graeme "Laird McGillicuddy" Cairns wants to add a letter and, potentially, controversy by calling Waikato's only city Whamilton.

Inspired by the Wanganui/Whanganui furore, Mr Cairns has a plan to rebrand the city.

Hamilton was named after British naval officer Captain John Fane Charles Hamilton, but rather than stick with its "embarrassing colonial past", Mr Cairns suggests the city take jetboat inventor William Hamilton's name.

"Let's look to the future and name our city after a zooming, high-tech modern industrialist," Mr Cairns said.

The full name would be a bit of a mouthful, he said, but reduced to its essence is Whamilton.

The beauty of saying so long to the Tron was that the new name can be pronounced four different ways. "With a silent 'h', a silent 'w', an 'f' sound or the aspirated 'w' sound "as in the word `which' when it is pronounced correctly."

Whamilton had "real impact and was a punchy kind of a name" that reflected the city's status as a premier boxing and V8 racing venue.

By flipping the "i" upside down another option was WHAM!lton. "It's got plenty of biff, bam and wallop that way."

The "team-effort" brain wave has been sent to Hamilton City Council's marketing department.

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