Mayan names and their meaning

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Mayan names and their meaning

National, regional and local languages are not only a way to communicate and relate to one another, but also create an identity within the people. In the South and Southwestern regions of Mexico, which were originally inhabited by Mayans, people consider these pre-Hispanic tongues as a part of their identity, something that brings them together and a way to perpetuate their ethnicity, their people and their cultures.

The Mayan language is one of the main and most important languages spoken in Mexico. The Mayan linguistic family comprises 31 languages, and only 2 of them are now considered dead languages, and an estimate of 5 million people speak them in Mexico and Central America.

Mayan names sound different and have a different personality to them than names in Spanish and other European languages. Mayan terms are now chosen by people to name their children and pets. This is a way to keep the language of one of the most beautiful and important pre-Hispanic civilizations. Learn some of these names and their meanings:

List of Mayan names and their meaning

                 Mayan name Meaning
ATL Water
ACAUALXOCHITL Flower in a stream of water
ACOATL Water snake
ALOTL Macaw
AQUETZALLI Precious water
ATZIN Venerable water
AZTLAN Whiteness
CIHUATL Woman
CIHUACOATL Snake woman
CIHUAXOCHITL Flower woman
CITLALTONAC Bright star
CITLALTZIN Little star
CITLAXÓCHITL Star which became a flower
CÓATL Snake
COATZIN Little snake
CUAUHTÉMOC Plummeting eagle
CHALCHIUITL Fire flower
CHALCHIUHTLICUE Jade hillside
CHICHILKUALI Red eagle
EHÉCATL Wind
HIUHTONAL Precious light
HUITZILLIN Hummingbird
ILHUITEMOC Descended from the heavens
IXTLIXÓCHITL Flower face
MATLALCÓATL Deer-snake