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 |