What does the name Mexico mean?

A popular interpretation holds that the name Mexico comes from the Nahuatl words metztli (moon), xictli (navel or center), and -co (place), giving ‘in the navel of the moon’. It is often linked to the position of the Mexica capital on an island in the lake system of the Valley of Mexico.

Scholars still debate the true etymology, but ‘the navel of the moon’ is the meaning most widely taught. Do not confuse it with Aztlán, the Mexica place of origin, whose name is usually translated as ‘place of herons’.