Like many in the Land of Enchantment, I always assumed that our state’s name was derived from Mexico, the nation to our south. I figured that our state was named after Mexico had been established as a country. I was wrong. Read on.
I made that assumption when you consider the pattern that many places in the United States were given the prefix “New” in their name when settlers moved here from somewhere else.
Consider the names New Jersey, New York, New England, New London, New Hampshire, New Brunswick and New Rochelle. You’d think the early settlers could have come up with something more original. And if Great Britain was so bad as to make you want to escape on a harrowing ocean voyage to the New World, you’d think they’d want to forget the names of the places they’d left behind.
But in New Mexico, that was not the case. In fact, New Mexico was given its name sometime in 1562 when Spanish explorer Don Francisco de Ibarra first used the name “Nuevo Mexico” in an official document.
According to both AI sources on the internet and the book “New Mexico Place Names,” the word Mexico was derived from the Nahuatl language of the Aztecs. The word was used to identify the place they migrated to near the present Mexico City. Mexico is a mishmash of the words Mexihco, Mexicas or just Mexi. Loosely translated, it means “place of” or “in the center” of the moon.
Early explorers Cabeza de Vaca and Friar Marcos de Niza used the words Cibola and Quivira to refer to much of what is now New Mexico, but it never fully caught on (although there is a Cibola County in the state.) So Nuevo (or New) Mexico was the official name through the rest of the Spanish occupation
Later, when another Spanish explorer named Antonio de Espejo returned from a two-year exploration, he referred to the region as “Nuevo Andalucia,” for reasons I could not determine. It might, however, be that the terrain of New Mexico reminded him of the Andalusia region of southern Spain. I think the name it has a nice ring to it.
In 1598. Don Juan de Onate, took possession of the region and declared himself to be “governor, captain, general and adelantado of New Mexico and of its kingdoms and provinces, as well as those in its vicinity — and contiguous thereto.” In 1771, Onate’s boastful claim to a “kingdom” was reduced to a territory. And then in 1846, American troops occupied the region and declared it to be known as the “Territory of New Mexico.”
You may recall an earlier blog I wrote about four and one-half years ago that suggested that the name “Lincoln” might have been considered for our state. I could find no evidence to support that, but I’ve included a link to that post if you’re interested. There was a suggestion at one point that the state’s name be “Montezuma.”
Meanwhile back in present day Mexico, the locals had not officially determined what to call their nation until the country gained its independence from Spain in 1821.
Anyway, we’re stuck with the name New Mexico at this point. I think it would be difficult to change, even if some people wanted to do that. I remember that a few years back, South Dakota wanted to change its name to simply “Dakota.” That suggestion never seemed to gain much momentum.
What if we could just drop the “Nuevo” and call our state Andalucia. Maybe I’ll start a movement.
aero-cordero.com 