The town was named in 1908 when a post office was needed for the township. "Hari Hari Post Office" was operated by Postmaster Hende. Prior to this, Hari Hari was called "Hende's Ferry" after the Hende family, the first European settlers in the area. Land Information New Zealand states, they have no record of "Hari Hari Post Office" and insist the "accepted" name is Harihari. They also state that a chain of surveyors who had surveyed the area over past years had used the shortened name. Locals say this is debatable and untrue. If true, this was either from a lack of knowledge of Hari Hari's given name, or the surveyors were simply saving time by shortening the town's name. This has resulted in confusion, and official Government Organizations and Internet sites World Wide, such as Google Earth not using the real town name.