I’ve been looking for a cute, meaningful Mexican girl name, but I can’t find any from my culture. My roots come from Zacatecas, but I can barely find anything about my culture. I’ve been looking for Zacateco names, or even just Chichimeca, but nothing shows up. I really like [name_f]Nayeli[/name_f] and [name_f]Citlali[/name_f], but I’m not sure if it would be cultural appropriation. I know [name_f]Nayeli[/name_f] is Zapotec, and [name_f]Citlali[/name_f] is Aztec/Nahuatl (if they’re not, this is going to be SO embarrassing, please correct me if these are wrong), but I am Mexican by blood. Would it be cultural appropriation if I use one of these names, even thought I am also Mexican? If you know any Zacateco names, though, please tell me! Thank you!
[name_f]Nayeli[/name_f] has ranked in the charts in the US, the Netherlands, Spain, and Puerto [name_m]Rico[/name_m], with alternative spellings coming up like [name_f]Naely[/name_f] and [name_f]Nayelie[/name_f] etc. It’s also very well used in Mexico, so I think it feels like one that feels more generally usable?
There’s also the Hispanicized form of [name_f]Citlali[/name_f] – [name_f]Xitlalli[/name_f] – if that makes you feel more comfortable considering it?
I tried to do a bit of research and I wonder if some of the trouble with finding Zacateco names is that the language is extinct and lesser known – so there’s less documentation of names? It is believed to be a Nahuan language like Nahuatl is, and is apparently similar to Huichol – you probably already know this – just explaining my thought process/route towards suggestions:)
[name_m]Iyari[/name_m]
Haramara
Jaramar
[name_m]Taiyari[/name_m]
[name_f]Nayeli[/name_f] and [name_f]Citlali[/name_f] are both lovely, and your research looks right to me — [name_f]Nayeli[/name_f] is usually traced to Nahuatl, often translated as “she loves” or “loving one,” and [name_f]Citlali[/name_f] means “star.” Since your roots are in Zacatecas, it might be worth asking around in a Zacatecan community too, because some regional names never make it into the big databases. Either way I would not worry about appropriation — using a name from your own heritage reads more like reconnecting with it.
I’m neither Zapotec nor Nahua so I can’t claim to speak for either community, but from my perspective, [name_f]Nayeli[/name_f] has become a more universally Mexican name despite having specifically Zapotec origins. I would not be at all surprised to meet a [name_f]Nayeli[/name_f] of any Mexican background (or even of another Spanish-speaking background). [name_f]Citlali[/name_f] feels slightly more Nahuatl-specific to me, however, I still don’t think anyone would consider it cultural appropriation for someone of a different indigenous Mexican background to use the name.
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Also, from some quick research, it seems that Zacateco is generally considered to have been part of the Uto-Aztec / Uto-Nahuatl language family (https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Idioma_zacateco) - that’s a very wide-spanning group of diverse languages, but it may make you feel better about using a Nahuatl name, knowing the languages are related?
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I couldn’t find any names that are specifically Zacateco, unfortunately, but I found list of Otomí names which is another Chichimeca culture. I can’t speak to how accurate they are, but it’s a website dedicated to Otomí language and culture so I’d hope it’s fairly accurate?
https://otomi.com.mx/nombres-personales-de-origen-otomi/