The Nahuatl name for the area is Cacamilhuacan, which translates to "crows in the field."

In the distance rises the Hill of the Hunchback, which gave the pre-Columbian town its Nahuatl name.

Ahuehuete is derived from the Nahuatl name for the tree, āhuēhuētl, which means "upright drum in water" or "old man of the water."

Tacuba is derived from the former Nahuatl name "Tlacopan" and means place of the jarilla plant.

In Mexico, the native Nahuatl name for the plant is Xcambocoché.

The native Nahuatl name for this was tlaxcalli.

The Nahuatl name of the plant is metl.

The species name is derived from tzoyatl, the Nahuatl name for Yucca rostrata.

The original Nahuatl name was quetzaltenānco, quetzal-tenān-co, of which a likely etymology is:

Another translation of the Nahuatl name can mean "place of the skulls of the sacrificed".