Toponyms
What Mexican state and city names mean
Oaxaca is 'at the top of the guaje trees', Michoacán is 'place of the fish owners', Tenochtitlan is 'among the stone cactus fruit', Cancún is probably 'snake nest'. Mexico's map is a Nahuatl, Maya, and Spanish dictionary; here it is, state by state and city by city.
The 32 states
| Place | Meaning | Language | Built from | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aguascalientes ah-gwas-kah-LYEN-tes | hot waters | Spanish | aguas+calientes | Named for the hot springs around the capital city, founded in 1575. Also the state capital. |
| Baja California BAH-hah kah-lee-FOR-nyah | lower California | Spanish | baja+California | California was the island of Queen Calafia in a Spanish chivalric novel; the explorers applied it to the peninsula. The etymology of Calafia itself is uncertain, possibly from Arabic khalifa. |
| Baja California Sur BAH-hah kah-lee-FOR-nyah SOOR | southern lower California | Spanish | baja (lower) + California + sur (south) | The southern half of the peninsula; capital La Paz (peace). |
| Campeche kahm-PEH-cheh | place of snakes and ticks | Maya | kaan+peech | From the Maya town Kaan Peech (Can Pech), where the Spanish landed in 1517. Also the state capital, a walled port. |
| Chiapas CHYAH-pas | place of chia | Nahuatl | chia (chia seed) + -pan (place of); or chia + -apan (river of) | Plural of Chiapa, the Nahuatl name for the Chiapanec town. Etymology disputed between the locative -pan and the river suffix -apan, the latter referring to the Grijalva. |
| Chihuahua chee-WAH-wah | dry, sandy place | Nahuatl | possibly Xicuahua (dry, sandy place) | Etymology disputed: the Nahuatl reading is unproven and a Tarahumara origin (place of the factory, or between two waters) is also proposed. Also the state capital; the dog breed is named for the state. |
| Ciudad de México syoo-DAHD deh MEH-hee-koh | city of the Mexica | Nahuatl | Mēxihco (place of the Mexica), from Mēxihcah (the Mexica people) + -co (place) | The federal capital, a state-level entity since 2016. Etymology disputed: the older readings metztli (moon) + xictli (navel) + -co, in the navel of the moon, and metl (maguey) + xictli, are rejected on phonetic grounds by most linguists; no derivation is universally accepted. |
| Coahuila koh-ah-WEE-lah | place of trees | Nahuatl | cuahuitl+-tlān | Etymology disputed: the Nahuatl reading is the standard one, but others derive it from cōātl (snake) + huīlāna (to crawl), snake that crawls, or from a Coahuiltecan word. Full name Coahuila de Zaragoza. |
| Colima koh-LEE-mah | place where the water bends | Nahuatl | Collimān, probably from ātl (water) + acolli (shoulder, bend) + -mān (place); also read as colli (grandfather, old god) + -mān (place of the old god) | Etymology disputed: the Codex Mendoza glyph shows a bent arm with water, which supports the river-bend reading; the god-of-fire reading (place ruled by the old god, the volcano) is traditional. Also the state capital. |
| Durango doo-RAHN-goh | from Durango, Spain | Basque | Durango (town in Biscay), probably Basque Duranco, of uncertain meaning | Named in 1563 by the Basque founder Francisco de Ibarra after his home town. Meaning of the Basque name is uncertain. Also the state capital. |
| Guanajuato gwah-nah-HWAH-toh | hill of frogs | Purépecha | kuanasï+uata | Purépecha Kuanasï Uata; the frog-shaped rocks above the city are the traditional explanation. Also the state capital, a silver-mining town and World Heritage Site. |
| Guerrero geh-RREH-roh | warrior | Spanish | guerrero (warrior), the surname of Vicente Guerrero | Named in 1849 for Vicente Guerrero, independence hero and second president of Mexico. Capital Chilpancingo. |
| Hidalgo ee-DAHL-goh | nobleman | Spanish | hidalgo (minor noble, from hijo de algo: son of something), the surname of Miguel Hidalgo | Named in 1869 for Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla, the priest who began the War of Independence in 1810. Capital Pachuca. |
| Jalisco hah-LEES-koh | on the sandy surface | Nahuatl | xālli+īxtli+-co | From Xālixco, a town near the coast whose name the Spanish extended to the whole province. Capital Guadalajara; home of mariachi and tequila. |
| México MEH-hee-koh | place of the Mexica | Nahuatl | Mēxihcah+-co | The State of Mexico, surrounding the capital; capital Toluca. Etymology disputed, see Ciudad de México; the moon-navel reading is popular but not accepted by most Nahuatl scholars. |
| Michoacán mee-choh-ah-KAHN | place of the fish owners | Nahuatl | michin+-huah+-cān | The Nahuatl name the Aztecs gave to the Purépecha lake country. Etymology disputed: a Purépecha origin, Michamacuán (place beside the water), is also proposed. Capital Morelia. |
| Morelos moh-REH-los | from Morelos | Spanish | Morelos (surname, from moral: mulberry tree), the surname of José María Morelos | Named in 1869 for José María Morelos y Pavón, leader of the independence war after Hidalgo. Capital Cuernavaca. |
| Nayarit nah-yah-REET | son of god who is in heaven and sun | Cora | Náayarite (name of a Cora leader), traditionally glossed as son of god in heaven and in the sun | Named for Nayar, a legendary Cora chief; the gloss is traditional and unverified. Capital Tepic. |
| Nuevo León NWEH-voh leh-ON | new León | Spanish | nuevo+León | Founded as the Nuevo Reino de León in 1582; León in Spain took its name from the Roman Seventh Legion. Capital Monterrey. |
| Oaxaca wah-HAH-kah | at the tip of the guaje trees | Nahuatl | huāxin+yacatl+-c | From Huāxyacac, the Aztec garrison name; etymology disputed only in detail, since some read the ending as the honorific -tzin from the hill name Huāxacatzin. The Zapotec name is Ndua. Capital Oaxaca de Juárez. |
| Puebla PWEH-blah | town | Spanish | puebla (settlement, town), from Latin populus | From Puebla de los Ángeles, founded in 1531 as a Spanish town rather than on an indigenous site. Capital Puebla de Zaragoza. |
| Querétaro keh-REH-tah-roh | place of the ball game | Purépecha | possibly k'eri (great) + ireta (town) + -rhu (place); or queréndaro (place of boulders); Otomi Ndämaxei (great ball game) | Etymology disputed: the Purépecha readings give place of crags or great town, while the Otomi name Ndämaxei and the Nahuatl Tlachco both mean ball court. Also the state capital, Santiago de Querétaro. |
| Quintana Roo keen-TAH-nah ROH | from Quintana Roo | Spanish | surname of Andrés Quintana Roo (Quintana: fifth-part farm; Roo: Asturian surname) | Named in 1902 for the Yucatec writer and independence figure Andrés Quintana Roo. Capital Chetumal; home of Cancún and Tulum. |
| San Luis Potosí sahn LWEES poh-toh-SEE | Saint Louis of Potosí | Spanish | San Luis+Potosí | Named in 1592 after the French saint-king and, hopefully, after the fabulously rich Potosí mines of Peru. Also the state capital. |
| Sinaloa see-nah-LOH-ah | round pitahaya | Cahita | Mayo-Yaqui sina+lobola | Etymology disputed: the Cahita pitahaya reading is standard, but cut corn and other glosses are also proposed. Capital Culiacán. |
| Sonora soh-NOH-rah | uncertain | Opata | possibly Opata xunuta (place of corn), or Spanish Señora (Our Lady) as pronounced by locals | Etymology disputed: the Opata corn word, a local pronunciation of Señora, and Spanish sonora (sonorous) are all proposed. Capital Hermosillo. |
| Tabasco tah-BAHS-koh | uncertain | Nahuatl | possibly tlapalco (place of damp earth); or Maya tab-uaxac-koh (lord of eight lions); or the name of the local ruler Tabscoob | Etymology disputed: named by the Spanish in 1519 after the cacique Tabscoob, whose own name has several proposed readings. Capital Villahermosa. |
| Tamaulipas tah-mow-LEE-pas | place of high mountains | Huastec | Tamaholipa: tam (place of) + holipa (high hills), traditional gloss | From the Huastec town Tamaholipa; the gloss place where people pray a lot is also given. Etymology uncertain. Capital Ciudad Victoria. |
| Tlaxcala tlash-KAH-lah | place of tortillas | Nahuatl | tlaxcalli+-tlān | From Tlaxcallān; the Tlaxcaltecs allied with Cortés against the Aztecs. Smallest state; also the state capital. |
| Veracruz veh-rah-KROOS | true cross | Spanish | vera+cruz | Cortés founded the Villa Rica de la Vera Cruz on Good Friday 1519. Full name Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave; capital Xalapa. |
| Yucatán yoo-kah-TAHN | uncertain | Maya | possibly Yucatec ma' k'u'ub t'aan (I don't understand your speech), or yokot'an (Chontal Maya, speakers of Yoko); Bernal Díaz derived it from yuca (cassava) + tale (mound) | Etymology disputed: the famous story that the name means I don't understand you is a colonial anecdote; a derivation from the Chontal ethnonym Yokot'an is preferred by some scholars. Capital Mérida. |
| Zacatecas sah-kah-TEH-kas | people of the grassland | Nahuatl | zacatl+-tēcah | Named for the Zacateco people; silver city founded in 1546. Also the state capital, a World Heritage Site. |
Cities, towns, and ancient sites
| Place | Meaning | Language | Built from | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Acapulco ah-kah-POOL-koh | place of the big reeds | Nahuatl | ācatl+-pōl+-co | Colonial port of the Manila galleon and Mexico's first international resort. Full name Acapulco de Juárez. |
| Cancún kahn-KOON | nest of snakes | Maya | kaan (snake) + kun (nest, pot; or overfilled) | Etymology disputed: nest of snakes and golden snake, for the shape of the island at sunrise, are both offered; Wiktionary reads kun as overfilled. The resort was built from 1970 on a nearly empty island. |
| Chichén Itzá chee-CHEN eet-SAH | at the mouth of the well of the Itzá | Maya | chi'+ch'e'en+Itzá | Named for the sacred cenote that drew pilgrims; the Itzá were the Maya group who ruled it. One of the New Seven Wonders. |
| Chihuahua chee-WAH-wah | dry, sandy place | Nahuatl | possibly Xicuahua (dry, sandy place) | State capital, founded 1709 as San Francisco de Cuéllar. Etymology disputed, see state entry. |
| Cholula choh-LOO-lah | place of flight | Nahuatl | Cholōllān: cholōa (to flee, to jump) + -tlān (place of) | Traditionally place where the refugees fled, from the Toltec exiles who settled it; some read place of water that falls. Home of the largest pyramid by volume in the world, in Puebla. |
| Ciudad Juárez syoo-DAHD HWAH-res | city of Juárez | Spanish | ciudad+Juárez | Originally Paso del Norte; renamed in 1888 for Benito Juárez, who governed from here during the French intervention. Chihuahua, across from El Paso. |
| Coyoacán koh-yoh-ah-KAHN | place of those who have coyotes | Nahuatl | coyōtl+-huah+-cān | Borough of Mexico City; home of Frida Kahlo's Casa Azul. Sometimes glossed as place of coyotes. |
| Cuernavaca kwer-nah-VAH-kah | near the trees | Nahuatl | cuahuitl+-nāhuac | The Spanish reshaped Nahuatl Cuauhnāhuac into cuerna (horn) + vaca (cow), which is why the city's arms show a cow's horn. City of eternal spring; capital of Morelos. |
| Culiacán koo-lyah-KAHN | place of those who bend | Nahuatl | Cōlhuahcān: cōl- (bent, crooked; or ancestor) + -huah (owner) + -cān (place) | Etymology disputed: place of the Colhua (people of the ancestors), place where the road bends, and place of the god Coltzin are all offered. Capital of Sinaloa. |
| Ensenada en-seh-NAH-dah | cove, inlet | Spanish | ensenada (cove, bay) | Bahía de Todos Santos, named by explorers in 1542; Baja California's wine country port. |
| Guadalajara gwah-dah-lah-HAH-rah | valley of stones | Arabic | wādī+al-ḥijāra | Named in 1542 after Guadalajara in Spain, birthplace of the conquistador Nuño de Guzmán. Capital of Jalisco and second-largest city in Mexico. |
| Huatulco wah-TOOL-koh | place where the wood is worshipped | Nahuatl | Cuauhtōlco: cuahuitl (wood, tree) + tōloa (to bow) + -co (place), traditional reading | Etymology disputed: the reading refers to a legendary cross venerated there before the Spanish came; place where the wood is carried is also offered. Oaxaca resort of nine bays. |
| Ixtapa eeks-TAH-pah | place of salt | Nahuatl | iztatl (salt) + -pan (place of); also read as iztac (white) + -pan | Resort in Guerrero developed in the 1970s; several Mexican towns share the name. |
| Iztapalapa ees-tah-pah-LAH-pah | on the water of the flat stones | Nahuatl | iztapalli+ātl+-pan | Most populous borough of Mexico City; known for its Holy Week Passion play. |
| León leh-ON | lion | Spanish | León (the Spanish kingdom, Latin legio: legion; folk-associated with león: lion) | Founded 1576 as Villa de León, named for the kingdom of León in Spain. Largest city in Guanajuato; leather and shoe capital. |
| Mazatlán mah-sah-TLAHN | place of deer | Nahuatl | mazātl+-tlān | Pacific port in Sinaloa, famous for its carnival and its lighthouse hill. |
| Mérida MEH-ree-dah | veteran's colony | Latin | Emerita Augusta (colony of the emperor's veteran soldiers), the Roman name of Mérida, Spain | Founded in 1542 on the Maya city of T'ho; the Spanish named it Mérida because the ruins reminded them of the Roman ruins in Extremadura. Capital of Yucatán. |
| Monterrey mon-teh-RRAY | king's mountain | Spanish | monte+rey | Founded in 1596 and named for the viceroy Gaspar de Zúñiga, Count of Monterrey, whose title comes from the Galician town of Monterrei. Capital of Nuevo León. |
| Oaxaca de Juárez wah-HAH-kah deh HWAH-res | at the tip of the guaje trees, of Juárez | Nahuatl | huāxin+yacatl+-c+de Juárez | State capital, renamed for the Zapotec president born nearby in Guelatao. Colonial name Antequera. |
| Pachuca pah-CHOO-kah | place of hay | Nahuatl | pachtli+-yoh+-cān | Etymology disputed: narrow place (pachoa), place of silver and gold, and place of tears are also proposed. Capital of Hidalgo; birthplace of Mexican football. |
| Puebla PWEH-blah | town of the angels | Spanish | Puebla de los Ángeles: puebla (settlement) + de los Ángeles (of the angels) | Founded in 1531; legend says angels laid out the city in a bishop's dream. Now Puebla de Zaragoza, for the general who won the Battle of Puebla on 5 May 1862. |
| Querétaro keh-REH-tah-roh | place of the ball game | Purépecha | see state entry; Otomi Ndämaxei (great ball game) | Santiago de Querétaro, founded 1531; the 1917 Constitution was signed here. Etymology disputed. |
| San Miguel de Allende sahn mee-GEL deh ah-YEN-deh | Saint Michael of Allende | Spanish | San Miguel+de Allende | Founded 1542 by Fray Juan de San Miguel; renamed in 1826 for the independence leader Ignacio Allende, born there. Guanajuato. |
| Taxco TAHS-koh | place of the ball game | Nahuatl | tlachtli+-co | From Tlachco. Silver town in Guerrero; full name Taxco de Alarcón for the playwright Juan Ruiz de Alarcón. |
| Tenochtitlan teh-noch-TEET-lahn | place of the prickly-pear rock | Nahuatl | tetl (rock) + nōchtli (prickly pear fruit) + -ti- + -tlān (place near) | The Aztec capital, founded 1325 on an island in Lake Texcoco where an eagle sat on a cactus; Mexico City stands on it. Etymology disputed: Lockhart and Karttunen note the vowel length of noch- does not match nōchtli, so the cactus reading may be folk etymology; some tie it to the founder Tenoch. |
| Teotihuacan teh-oh-tee-wah-KAHN | place where gods are made | Nahuatl | teōtl (god) + -ti- + -hua- (to become) + -cān (place); read by Andrews as teōtīhuah (owner of elder gods) + -cān | The Aztec name for the ruined city they found; its builders' own name is unknown. Etymology disputed in detail: place where one becomes a god, place of those who have gods, and city of the gods are all offered. |
| Tepoztlán teh-pos-TLAHN | place of copper | Nahuatl | tepoztli+-tlān | Morelos town below the Tepozteco pyramid; also read as place of the axe, since tepoztli covers metal tools. Birthplace, in legend, of Quetzalcoatl. |
| Tequila teh-KEE-lah | place of tribute | Nahuatl | Tequillān or Tecuila: tequitl (tribute, work) + -tlān (place of) | Etymology disputed: place of work or tribute is the usual reading; place where they cut (tequi: to cut) and place of tricks are also given. The Jalisco town gave its name to the spirit. |
| Tijuana tee-HWAH-nah | by the sea | Kumeyaay | possibly Kumeyaay Tiwan (by the sea) | Etymology disputed: the Kumeyaay reading is likely but unproven; the folk story about a Tía Juana (Aunt Jane) who ran a ranch is not supported. Largest city in Baja California. |
| Tlaquepaque tlah-keh-PAH-keh | place over hills of clay | Nahuatl | tlalli (earth, clay) + -icpac (on top of), traditional reading | Etymology disputed: readings include place on clay hills, men who make clay pots, and simply place of clay; all point to the pottery the town is known for. Suburb of Guadalajara, officially San Pedro Tlaquepaque. |
| Tlaxcala tlash-KAH-lah | place of tortillas | Nahuatl | tlaxcalli+-tlān | State capital, officially Tlaxcala de Xicohténcatl for the Tlaxcaltec lord. |
| Toluca toh-LOO-kah | place of the god Tolo | Nahuatl | Tollohcān: Tolloh (a god) + -cān (place); or toloa (to bow the head) + -cān | Etymology disputed: place where the god Tolo dwells and place where heads bow, for the mountain, are both offered. Capital of the State of Mexico; highest major city in the country. |
| Tulum too-LOOM | wall, fence | Maya | tulu'um (wall, enclosure) | The walled Maya port on the Caribbean cliffs; its ancient name was Zamá (dawn). The Spanish spelling kept the Maya word for its walls. |
| Veracruz veh-rah-KROOS | true cross | Spanish | vera+cruz | The oldest European-founded city on the mainland Americas, 1519; Mexico's main Atlantic port. |
| Xochimilco soh-chee-MEEL-koh | place of the flower field | Nahuatl | xōchitl+mīlli+-co | Borough of Mexico City known for its canals and chinampas, the floating gardens; a World Heritage Site. |
| Zacatecas sah-kah-TEH-kas | place of the grassland people | Nahuatl | zacatl+-tēcah | Silver city founded 1546 on the Cerro de la Bufa; state capital and World Heritage Site. |
| Zihuatanejo see-wah-tah-NEH-hoh | place of women | Nahuatl | cihuātl+-tlān+Spanish -ejo | Etymology disputed: Cihuatlán, place of women, may refer to a matriarchal community or a shrine to the cihuateteo; the Spanish added the diminutive. Guerrero fishing town beside Ixtapa. |
Reading a Nahuatl place name
Nahuatl place names end in a locative suffix that tells you what kind of place it is. -co and -c mean "in" or "at" (Xochimilco, in the field of flowers; Acapulco, at the big reeds). -tlan means "among" or "place of" (Mazatlán, place of deer; Tenochtitlan, among the stone cactus fruit). -pan means "on" (Tlalpan, on the land). -can means "place of" (Michoacán, Culiacán). -tepec means "hill" (Chapultepec, grasshopper hill). -titlan is "next to". Strip the suffix and what is left is usually an animal, a plant, or a feature of the land.
Maya place names work differently: they are usually two short words, and many are the Spanish conquistadors' misunderstanding of a Maya answer. Yucatán is the famous case, probably a Maya reply meaning "I don't understand you" or a reference to the Yucatec people; the sources disagree. Tulum is "wall", Chichén Itzá is "at the mouth of the well of the Itzá", Cozumel is "island of the swallows".
Several of these place words double as given names: Xóchitl (Xochimilco), Tenoch (Tenochtitlan), Itzá (Chichén Itzá), Balam. See Aztec names and Mayan names.
Mexican place names FAQ
What does Mexico mean?
The name comes from the Mexica, the people of Tenochtitlan, and Mexico-Tenochtitlan was their city. The etymology of Mexica itself is disputed: proposals include Metztli (moon) plus xictli (navel), 'in the navel of the moon', and Mexitli, a name of Huitzilopochtli. No reading is accepted by all linguists.
Which Mexican states have Nahuatl names?
Most of them: Chiapas, Chihuahua, Coahuila, Colima, Guanajuato (Purépecha), Guerrero (Spanish), Hidalgo (Spanish), Jalisco, México, Michoacán, Morelos (Spanish), Nayarit (Cora), Oaxaca, Puebla (Spanish), Querétaro (Purépecha or Otomi), Sinaloa (Cahita), Tabasco, Tamaulipas (Huastec), Tlaxcala, Zacatecas. Yucatán, Campeche, and Quintana Roo are Maya or Spanish; the northern states of Baja California, Sonora, Durango, and Nuevo León are Spanish or Basque.
What does Guadalajara mean?
It is named for the Spanish city, whose name is Arabic: wadi al-hijara, 'river of stones'. Many Mexican cities carry names from Spain (Mérida, León, Guadalajara, Córdoba, Salamanca) or from saints (San Luis Potosí, San Miguel de Allende).
What does Cancún mean?
From Yucatec Maya, usually explained as kaan (snake) plus kun (nest or pot), 'snake nest', though the reading is not certain. The resort was built in 1970 on an island that had the name already.