18/04/2023
There is no historical record that indicates that the Aztecs ever called themselves "Aztecs." They referred to themselves as the Mexica. Those who lived in their capital city, Tenochtitlan, were the Tenochca - Mexica. The Mexica formed part of a larger ethnic group known as the Nahua, who spoke Nahuatl. The familiar words of chocolate, chipotle, coyote, tomato, and avocado derive from
Nahuatl words. Even the name of Mexico, adopted after Mexicans gained independence from Spain in 1821, stems from Mexica.
So where does the word Aztec originate from?
German explorer and scientist Alexander von Humboldt arrived in Mexico in 1803 after traveling throughout parts of "Latin America." Impressed by what he experienced and saw in Mexico City, he became interested in the country’s indigenous past (the country was then still New Spain). He wrote about the Aztecs and created illustrations of their sculptures. In 1810, he first used the name “Aztecs” to describe the powerful Mesoamerican people who had built a vast empire in Mexico and who encountered the Spaniards in 1519. Although he is probably not the first to use the term "Aztec", von Humboldt is the figure most connected with the term.
The name of Aztec stems from the Nahuatl word, Aztlan, which refers to the original homeland of the Mexica. Several decades later, the historian William H. Prescott further popularized the term, and it is still common today.
Sources: khanacademy.org; Aztec Nation; ancientpages.com;
