Hamilton's mayor Andrew King said his attempt at changing Hamilton City Council's name was "tried by the media" before his political body even had a chance to discuss it.
Earlier this week, Mr King said he was testing the waters with a possible council name change to Kirikiriroa City Council, as he felt it reflected stronger links with iwi.
The current Hamilton City Council logo has Kirikiriroa under it in small print.
However, a largely negative public response to the change meant Mr King decided on Thursday to back down on the move.
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Speaking to Trudi Nelson on RadioLIVE on Sunday afternoon, Mr King said the people had spoken and it was his job to represent the majority.
"We never actually got to discuss it because we were more or less tried by the media in the five days between when the agenda went out and when we got [it] to the meeting," he explained.
Despite the backlash, however, Mr King said he had no regrets in raising the idea.
"The reason I don't regret it is because it's had a lot of coverage, it's had a lot of discussion - and that's what I wanted to promote," he told Nelson.
"Is it the appropriate name long term? I'm not sure, but right now Hamilton's not really there.
"[Hamilton's] not ready to change and I fully accept that."
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