Last February, I was sitting at Steve’s Bar having some chicken quesadillas and my favorite Mexican pilsner, Pacifico. The winter Olympics were playing on the multiple TVs at the bar. Suddenly, there was a travel ad for Newfoundland stating: “Visit Newfoundland.” It was at this point that my mind started wondering who named the place Newfoundland. I know now that it was Giovanni Caboto, who was commissioned by the British to explore, and who named the land Terra Nova or “Newfoundland.” At Steve’s Bar back in February, however, I wondered how the people who lived there felt about a foreign “discoverer” calling them Newfound people. Did they need to be found? Were they lost? And, how did this name catch on? Anyway, the logical progression was to question the name of my country next. Where did it come from? Why Mexico? I figured these questions might be interesting for a more in-depth conversation.
The land of Mexico – which is now about half as large as it used to be (but that’s a topic for another day) – is named that way after the Aztec people the Mexicas. The Mexicas were the people of Tenochtitlan, the Mexica Tenochca who speak Nahuatl. Before it became “Mexico,” it was called “New Spain” by the Conquistadores. When New Spain gained its independence from Spain 200 years ago (as of this September 16th), we officially adopted the name “Mexico.”
So why the Mexicas, and why not the Mayans or Tlaxcaltecas? The heart of the new civilization during Spanish rule was, in fact, the area where the Mexicas lived. Tenochtitlan was destroyed by the Spanish and the Cathedral in Mexico City was built on top of their Templo Mayor (“Great Temple”) with rocks from the temple itself. The destruction of Tenochtitlan was a statement. The Aztecs were feared throughout most of the continent, and certainly in the territories of New Spain. All other native tribes in the area were subdued by the military might of the Aztecs. Conquering the Aztecs was the tipping point in the conquest of New Spain. Geographically and tactically, a strong presence in the region was an advantage. Trade, government, and church were very much centralized in the area. Naturally, after the war for independence was won, it was the most important and significant city in the region, and so naming the country after Mexico City made the most sense.
Additional Info on the word Mexico and its Nahuatl origins:
The word “Mexico” comes from the Nahuatl metzli which means “moon” and xictli which means “belly” or “center place.” Quite literally, the word “Mexico” means “belly of the moon.” It is believed that the lakes that surrounded Tecnochtitlan, the great city of the Aztecs, were shaped like a rabbit, similar to a silhouette found on the moon. The great city was located in the middle of the lakes, and thus, in the center of the rabbit, which was symbolically in the center of the moon.
Another explanation is that “Mexico” was derived from Mexictli, the name given to Huiztilopotchtli, the god of war that guided the Mexicas to the region in the center of Mexico where they found an eagle devouring a snake on top of a cactus (see the Mexican flag). The word Mexictli is derived from the words metl (“maguey plant”) and xictli (“belly”). Its translation then would be “the belly of the maguey.” This would justify the mythological significance that many pre-Hispanic cultures gave to this plant. Different maguey species provided fibers; needles for stitching, piercing, and rituals; and pulque, the alcoholic beverage of choice in Aztec culture.
Spanish historians during the conquest and the colonization used Castellano rules to transcribe words from Nahuatl. It is said that the “sho” sound in Nahutl was unknown at the time and that the letter "X” was used to represent this unfamiliar sound. The Real Academia de la Lengua Espanola considers both “Mejico” and “Mexico” as correct, but it suggests the modality of “Mexico” and the use of “X” in all its derivatives as proper use for all Nahuatl-derived words.
After Mexico gained its independence in the 19th century, the country was referred to as “America Mexicana” (even Morelos did not use the name “Mexico” in his book Sentimientos de la Nacion). The last debate on the matter took place at the congress of Chilpancingo in 1813, where some members proposed the name “Anahuac,” which was the name the Mexicas used to refer to their territories (Cem Anahuac Tenochca Tlalpan meant “The World, Earth Tenochca”). Finally, it was decided to use “Mexico.” In the Constitution of 1824, the official name was Nacion Mexicana, or “Mexican Nation.” Later, in the Constitution of 1857 it was changed to Republica Mejicana (note the use of “J”), and finally in the Constitution of 1917 the official name became Estados Unidos Mexicanos or “United Mexican States,” which remains to this day.
A special thanks to Professor Lic. Antonio Salgado, a dear friend, for sharing some of these valuable facts with us.
