Aztec Names

[Mr. Z]

So I'm writing a novel with Aztec characters (and a corresponding alternative history of Earth in which the Aztec Empire still exists), and I need Aztec names. The most comprehensive list I've found so far is this and this. So for my protagonist, I picked the name "Iuitl", but now I don't know how to pronounce it, and I can't find what I'm looking for on the internet. Can anybody help me with this? Also, if you have good resources on Nahuatl/the Aztecs/Aztec names, I would greatly appreciate it if you gave me a link.

[Arzena]

/lu.itɬ/ I'd guess.

[Astraios]

That's an i, not an L.

[Mr. Z]

Exactly, that's the problem. I don't know if it's /iwitK/ or /juitK/.

[Kereb]

I thought Nahuatl didn't have /u/. It'd be /i.witɬ/
but likely to be spelled <ihuitl> or something

and there already is a word /iʔwitɬ/, spelled a few ways.

[Jipí]

Your readers will say [ˈaɪwɪɾɫ] or [ˈjuːɪɾɫ] anyway.

[trollface.jpg]

[Mr. Z]

I thought Nahuatl didn't have /u/. It'd be /i.witɬ/
but likely to be spelled <ihuitl> or something

and there already is a word /iʔwitɬ/, spelled a few ways.

Oh, right. That's why I like <hu>.
My mistake. Thanks.

[Mr. Z]

Your readers will say [ˈaɪwɪɾɫ] or [ˈjuːɪɾɫ] anyway.

[trollface.jpg]

I'm writing in Hebrew, so... nope. More like [ʔiˈwitl] or [ʔiˈwitel].

[linguoboy]

Sure that name shouldn't be Iluitl "sky"? That's how it's rendered on Spanish-language websites.

I'm not sure I understand your goals in choosing as your protagonist someone whose culture you're going to have such a very hard time portraying convincingly.

[Mr. Z]

Sure that name shouldn't be Iluitl "sky"? That's how it's rendered on Spanish-language websites.

I'm not sure I understand your goals in choosing as your protagonist someone whose culture you're going to have such a very hard time portraying convincingly.

I think the meaning is supposed to be "feather".

And yeah, guess I might have trouble with that. But:
1. That's the challenge, and challenging myself is always good.
2. I still don't know exactly what I'm going to write; I'm kinda going along with it.
3. This is based on an alternate history I'm creating; Aztec development has been different for some 300 years, so there's plenty of time to shape them into something I can write better.
4. People who are going to read this aren't going to know anything about the Aztecs anyway

[Ziz]

According to my Nahuatl dictionary, "feather" is (/iʔwitɬ/), spelt ihhuitl in the classical orthography. It also offers atlapalli (/atɬapalːi/), but that also means other things.

[Mr. Z]

According to my Nahuatl dictionary, "feather" is (/iʔwitɬ/), spelt ihhuitl in the classical orthography. It also offers atlapalli (/atɬapalːi/), but that also means other things.

Ok, I'll use that. I'll transcribe it as אִיאְוויטְלְ.

[Ziz]

According to my Nahuatl dictionary, "feather" is (/iʔwitɬ/), spelt ihhuitl in the classical orthography. It also offers atlapalli (/atɬapalːi/), but that also means other things.

Ok, I'll use that. I'll transcribe it as אִיאְוויטְלְ.

I guess they would say /ivitel/? Maybe you could use צ instead of טל to get a closer approximation...

[/2¢]

[Mr. Z]

According to my Nahuatl dictionary, "feather" is (/iʔwitɬ/), spelt ihhuitl in the classical orthography. It also offers atlapalli (/atɬapalːi/), but that also means other things.

Ok, I'll use that. I'll transcribe it as אִיאְוויטְלְ.

I guess they would say /ivitel/? Maybe you could use צ instead of טל to get a closer approximation...

[/2¢]

I guess. I think it would be pronounced [ʔiʔewitel] by Hebrew speakers, which is about as close as it gets, but I might replace it with a צ. I just need to find some good recordings... I can't even pronounce [ɬ].
EDIT: Then again, I might want to save צ for /ts/. And טל seems much more Aztec and foreign.

[linguoboy]

I think the meaning is supposed to be "feather".

That is the meaning of "iuitl", but I'm dubious about its use as a name.

And yeah, guess I might have trouble with that. But:
1. That's the challenge, and challenging myself is always good.
2. I still don't know exactly what I'm going to write; I'm kinda going along with it.
3. This is based on an alternate history I'm creating; Aztec development has been different for some 300 years, so there's plenty of time to shape them into something I can write better.
4. People who are going to read this aren't going to know anything about the Aztecs anyway

5. They're just brown people anyway, and I'm white, so fuck it.

[Kereb]

4. People who are going to read this aren't going to know anything about the Aztecs anyway

it's a novel about Aztecs and you don't want it to be read by people with an interest in Aztecs?

[linguoboy]

4. People who are going to read this aren't going to know anything about the Aztecs anyway

it's a novel about Aztecs and you don't want it to be read by people with an interest in Aztecs?

He's just the creative genius. It's up to those wonks in the marketing department to figure out a way to sell this thing.

[Salmoneus]

Mr Z obviously knows more about Aztecs than I do - I'm sure he's done a vast amount of research, as is necessary for any novelist, let alone one trying to avoid being racist while discussing a race and culture not his own - but I'd always been taught that Aztec names were not randomly assigned, but were just the day (in the tonalpahualli) of the person's birth? [I know some people got 'warrior names' when they were older, but I thought that they were secondary, and I don't know much about them]. For instance, I'd be Yei-Cuetzpalin (Three Lizard).

Perhaps Mr Z could expound at greater depth?

[Xephyr]

but I'd always been taught that Aztec names were not randomly assigned, but were just the day (in the tonalpahualli) of the person's birth? [I know some people got 'warrior names' when they were older, but I thought that they were secondary, and I don't know much about them]. For instance, I'd be Yei-Cuetzpalin (Three Lizard).

I think it's the Mayans who are named for the day they're born. Iirc, the Mexica were named by their wetnurses or something...

[Kereb]

For instance, I'd be Yei-Cuetzpalin (Three Lizard).

oh that's what that was ...

[Salmoneus]

That's what what was?

[Kereb]

Yei_Cuetzpalin on irc

[Salmoneus]

but I'd always been taught that Aztec names were not randomly assigned, but were just the day (in the tonalpahualli) of the person's birth? [I know some people got 'warrior names' when they were older, but I thought that they were secondary, and I don't know much about them]. For instance, I'd be Yei-Cuetzpalin (Three Lizard).

I think it's the Mayans who are named for the day they're born. Iirc, the Mexica were named by their wetnurses or something...

Not just the Mayans. "A Companion to Mexican History and Culture" comments, for instance, about a Ñudzavui drawing: "This small drawing represents Lady 3 Flint's personal name: "Shell Quechquimitl". Since the ritual calendar provided only 260 possible names, names used by both men and women, many people in the Ñudzavui screenfolds have a personal name in addition to their calendar name. Some of these names were gender-specific. Spider webs and quechquimitls, for instance, were used only for the personal names of women." Elsewhere it says that the practice of calendar names was common throughout Mesoamerica, not just among the Ñudzavui (Mixtec).

[Drydic]

Some points from our local Nahuatl expert:

a) the list at 20000-names.com is bullshit. The most accurate list online is at http://sites.estvideo.net/malinal/1.hist/0.html
b) The Aztecs didn't name people after the day they were born.
c) also anyone who wants to know shit for real should come on irc

The irc channel in question is #isharia on Sorcery.net.

[Mr. Z]

Ok, thanks. You really demotivated me... I'm still improvising a bit, and I want to learn more about the Aztecs, it's just that I haven't had the chance to find good resources yet.

4. People who are going to read this aren't going to know anything about the Aztecs anyway

it's a novel about Aztecs and you don't want it to be read by people with an interest in Aztecs?

No, it's just that most people don't have an interest in Aztecs, and know practically nothing about them. Nothing, actually, except for their name and that they were Indians.