Nahua & Spanish Names

Deciphering names in an old handwritten document is not as easy as one might suppose. Nahua names “are capable of making numerous distinctions, potentially covering gender, age, descent, rank, ethnic-regional affiliation, and other matters.”¹ Add on the use of abbreviations, the difficulty in reading the handwriting, and the unfamiliarity of a language and you realize you need help. That is the purpose of this page. To make your tasks easier, please familiarize yourself with the history of Nahua and Spanish names and the various naming practices you will encounter and use online Nahuatl translators as well as the Spanish name lists found in that tutorial.

Before the conquest most people had only one name, and it was an ordinary word, or rather a description (examples of translations of these names in Nahuatl: Owl, Nine Reed, White Eagle, He Has No Friends). These types of names said something about the person. However, there were no surnames, and no way to identify someone's parentage using a name unless they were royalty.

After the fall of Tenochtitlan in 1521, the Spanish began converting the Nahuas through the instruction of Catholic doctrine and baptism. At baptism, an indigenous person was given a Christian (Spanish) name (even if they didn’t understand Spanish). So, from the perspective of the Spanish (the ones who kept the records), the Nahuas replaced their Nahua name with their Christian name. However, many just simply used both names together (Pedro Xochitzetzeloa “He Sprinkles Flowers”). By about 1550, essentially everyone in central Mexico had a Christian name.

Slowly, Nahua names began disappearing and the Nahuas went by either just one Christian first name, “Juan,” or two Christian first names, “Juan Miguel.” While “Miguel” is in the position of being a surname, the Nahua’s didn’t consider it to be a surname as their two names “Juan Miguel” traditionally felt like one first name. It’s important to note that second first names were not normally inherited by family members in subsequent generations. This can make it more challenging when trying to do family history.

Another element in naming practices relates to status and social standing. If a Nahua had a title (don, doña) or a genuine Spanish surname, then they or their parents had an important role in the community. To clarify, the title "don" meant two different things at once. To Spaniards it was inherited as you were born with it or you weren't. To Nahuas it marked something you'd achieved, so a lord's brother might not have one. “Doña” was a title used so widely among Spanish ladies [and] was actually less frequent among the Nahuas than don, presumably because the noblewomen did not ordinarily hold an office.”²

As the naming system evolved, it became possible to distinguish an “Indian” from a “Spaniard” by his name alone. The difference often relied on two factors, 1) whether there were double first names being used and 2) if the names were ubiquitously religious.

Nahua personal names took several forms. Some were calendrical (often built from an animal sign), some referred to prowess in war, some described physical or emotional characteristics, some were lyrical or poetic metaphors, and others indicated the origin of the person or their parents within a particular community or subdivision. A further category was outright derisive, pointing out the uselessness, insignificance, or annoying habits of the bearer. Examples of each type are below.

• Animals/Things/Calendrical: Techaltol (“Squirrel”), Chichiton (“Little Dog”), Tecolotl (“Owl”), Domingo Coyolton (“Little Bell”), Chiucnauh Acatl (“Nine Reed”), Martin Nahui Tochtli (“Four Rabbit” – this same person could have also been referred to in documents as “Martin Tochtli,” dropping the “Nahui”)
• Prowess in War: Miguel Yaochoca (“He Makes War Cries”), Mihua (“Possessor of Arrows”), Francisco Chimalquauh (“Shield Eagle”)
• Lyrical/Poetic Metaphors: Pedro Coçamalocatl (“Rainbow Inhabitant”), Diego Maçaihuitl (“Deer Down”), Quetzalcoatl (“Feathered Serpent” - Preconquest god)
• Origin: Antón Atzaqualcatl (“Inhabitant of Atzaqualco”), Juan Tocuiltecatl (“Inhabitant of Tocuillan”)
• Derisive/Sardonic: Domingo Ayac icniuh (“He Has No Friends”), Gabriel Tomiquia (“The Death of Us”), Gerónimo Tlemachica (“Cold Tortilla”)

Among the Nahuas, it was common that women and girls were named by birth order. This manner of naming was gender-specific and not normally used for males. Where male names carried relatively little distinction by rank, female naming "involves more rank differentiation than is seen in masculine naming.”³ Examples of these descriptors and how you might see them used are found below:
Descriptors:

• Teyacapan (or Tiacapan) = Eldest/Eldest Child
• Tlaco = Middle/Middle Child
• Teiuc = Younger/Younger Child
• Xoco = Youngest/Youngest Child
• Mocel = Only/Only Child

Examples of Descriptors being used in a name:

• Mariana Teiuc = Mariana the Middle (Teiuc is given with another name)
• …ytoca mocel = …named Mocel⁷ (Mocel is the only name given for the person)

From the beginning, the most distinguished Spanish names went to the highest members of indigenous society, though over time more people adopted them. These names may have been taken from a baptismal sponsor, a Spaniard who adopted his namesake as a protégé, or from famous conquerors, viceroys, encomenderos, corregidores, and prominent friars. The surname “Cortés” became a common noble surname across central Mexico that someone with the name “Cortés” was more likely to be Indian than not.

Mendicant friars (members of Catholic orders vowed to poverty, living by begging or charity) were often born with, or assumed, religious surnames, commonly a saint's name. Examples of popular first and surnames across the colonial centuries are those of the Magi (who are themselves are saints): “Baltasar de los Reyes,” “Melchor de los Reyes,” and “Gaspar de los Reyes.” Examples of religious surnames that weren’t saints include: “de la Cruz,” “de la Santa Cruz,” “de la Asunción,” or “de la Encarnación.”

"De San ___" became so predominant that it started being dropped. “Juan de San Martín” at birth may have been later simply called “Juan Martín.” Those who didn’t drop the “De San ___” after almost everyone did, signified that they were of a higher status. Santiago, which resisted contraction, kept the significance of higher status even though it might have been used by anyone.

Spanish patronymics endings “-ez” or “-es,” originally meant the “son of” (Rodríguez = son of Rodrigo). These surnames were common among the Spaniards that lived and worked alongside Nahuas. The natives soon adopted them. Juárez in particular, “became in time almost as characteristically ‘Indian’ as Santiago or a double first name.” Hernández, Sánchez, López, and Pérez were also common patronymics used in records.

When doing family history, please keep the names as you see them in the documents. You can translate their names as it has been done in this article, but please note that the translated name shouldn't be used as a replacement of their actual name.

• Nahuatl Names: The Nahuatl names in the 1544 census of Morelos by Magnus Pharao Hansen, 15 November 2014.
• Spanish Paleography Tutorial covering Spanish first and surnames is an excellent resource found here.
• ¿Y tú, cómo te llamas? is a book about the indigenous names used in Mexico. It is available in PDF format here (the link to download the PDF is on the lower part of the page). The book is only available in Spanish.
• Another book that may be of interest to those who research Mexican surnames is El Análisis Geodemográfico de Apellidos en México. It is available in PDF format here.

Citations:
1: James Lockhart, The Nahuas After the Conquest: A Social and Cultural History of the Indians of Central Mexico, Sixteenth Through Eighteenth Centuries (Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, 1992), 117.
2: Lockhart, Nahuas After the Conquest, 126.
3: Lockhart, Nahuas After the Conquest, 119.