The Maori name Eketahuna means 'to run aground on a sandbank' so named by the tangata whenua to describe that location where their waka could travel no further up the Makakahi River, which bisects the township.


The Wright family buried at the Mangaoranga Cemetery in Eketahuna are:

Arthur Charles Wright
- born February 1923
- died 21st November 1923 aged 9
- buried PLOT 51 BLOCK AA with 1 month id Margaret and 8 month old Mildred

Arthur Herbert Wright
- born 1865
- Arthur was a farmer
- died 1st November 1951 aged 86
- buried PLOT 128B BLOCK AA with his wife Catherine

Catherine Tait Robertson Wright
- born 1868
- died 30th October 1944 aged 76
- buried PLOT 128B BLOCK AA with husband Arthur

Margaret Guthrie Wright
- born May 1905
- died 18th January 1906 aged 8 months
- burie PLOT 51 BLOCK AA with 1 month old Mildred and 9 year old Arthur

Mildred Evelyn Wright
- born January 1911
- died 3rd Gebruary 1911 aged 1 month
- buried PLOT 51 BLOCK AA with 8 month old Margaret and 9 year old Arthur