Mexican state name etymologies

This article provides a collection of the etymologies of the names of the states of Mexico.

See also: Mexico, List of subnational name etymologies.

• Aguascalientes means "hot waters" in Spanish.

• Baja California means "Lower California" (The Spanish colony of California was divided into two—upper and lower—in 1804. The Mexican territory of Upper California, or Alta California, would in 1848 become the US states of California, Nevada, Utah, and parts of Arizona and Wyoming.)

• Baja California Sur means "Southern Baja California".

• Campeche takes its name from the city of Campeche, which was founded in 1540 by Spanish Conquistadores as San Francisco de Campeche atop the preexisting Maya city of Canpech or Kimpech.

• Chihuahua takes its name from its capital city, Chihuahua. This name is thought to derive from the Nahuatl Xicuahua, or "dry, sandy place".

• Hidalgo takes its name from Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla, considered the initiator of the Mexican War of Independence in 1810.

• México named after the Mexica branch of the Aztecs. The origin of the term "Mexica" is of uncertain origin. Some say it was the old Nahuatl word for the sun. Others say it was derived from the name of their leader Mextli. Yet others say it is just a type of weed that grows in Lake Texcoco. Leon Portilla suggests that it means "navel of the moon" from Nahuatl metztli (moon) and xictli (navel). Alternatively, it could mean navel of the maguey (Nahuatl: metl).

• Jalisco is derived from Nahuatl Xalixco, "place with sand on the ground".

• Morelos takes its name from José María Morelos, one of the leaders of Mexico's struggle against Spain during the War of Independence.

• Oaxaca takes its name from the Nahuatl term for the Central Valley around the capital, Oaxaca, Oaxaca, "Huaxyácac", which means "place of the guaje trees" (Leuceana leucocephala).

• Puebla takes its name from its capital city, Puebla de Zaragoza (former Puebla de los Ángeles, often shortened to Puebla).

• Tlaxcala is either from Nahuatl Tlaxcallan "Place of Maize Corn Bread" or Texcallan "place of stones".

• Veracruz takes its name from its largest city, the port of Veracruz, Veracruz. This name was given to the first Spanish city in New Spain by Hernán Cortés in 1519, in the form La Villa Rica de la Vera Cruz, "The Rich Town of the True Cross".

• Yucatán: The (probably apocryphal) story goes that when the Spaniards first waded ashore on the Yucatán Peninsula, they asked the members of the local population, who were watching, "What is this place?" The local indígenas, not understanding Spanish, asked "What did you say?" The Spanish, in their arrogance, assumed that anyone would understand their meaning, and took it to be the name.