What former name was Tuvalu known by before independence?

Before independence, Tuvalu was known as the Ellice Islands.

The name Ellice Islands was applied to the nine-island group that is now Tuvalu during the era of European charting and British colonial administration. Funafuti was called Ellice’s Island in 1819, and English hydrographer Alexander George Findlay later helped establish Ellice as the name for the entire group.

Britain administered the Ellice Islands first as a protectorate and later as part of the Gilbert and Ellice Islands Colony. The colony joined the predominantly Micronesian Gilbert Islands with the Polynesian Ellice Islands, even though the two groups had distinct cultures and identities.

In 1974, Ellice Islanders voted for separate dependency status as Tuvalu. The colony of Tuvalu formally came into existence on 1 October 1975, and the country became independent on 1 October 1978. The name Tuvalu means “eight standing together,” referring historically to eight inhabited islands, while Ellice Islands is the older colonial-era name.