Kihikihi is a Māori-language word meaning "cicada"; the name imitates the sound made by the insect.

The town is also home to the historic Kihikihi Polo Club, founded in 1892 by the Kay family.

[5] Kihikihi in the 19th century was described as a "border settlement" or a "frontier town" by James Cowan, ruined in the 1880s by the "Great Wet Peace" with the partition of the King Country and land-buying from Māori .

Kihikihi stood at the core of the productive farm-lands that Maori developed in the 1850s with the help of CMS missionaries.

20 archaeological sites have been identified in the town,[10] 9 of which are listed by Heritage New Zealand - Under the Reserves Act 1977, a management plan for some of the historic area was drawn up for Waipa District Council.

[20] Kihikihi School is a co-educational state primary school for Year 1 to 8 students,[21] with a roll of 210 as of November 2024[22] Kihikihi is a dual medium Kura, meaning there is an Aoraki stream taught in English, and a Rumaki stream taught entirely in Te Reo Māori.

An infrequent bus service operated by GoBus links it to Te Awamutu and Hamilton.