The word “axolotl” may be fun to say, but it isn’t just named that for fun. There is some interesting history behind the name.
If you read my facts post, you know that axolotls come from the Mexico City area. Before it was Mexico City, part of that region was known as Tenochtitlan. The word axolotl and Tenochtitlan have something in common: they’re Nahuatl words.
Nahuatl was the language of the Aztecs which ruled that area long ago. Although not as long ago as you might think. Oxford University was founded in 1096, and Tenochtitlan was founded in 1325. Hard to imagine, right?
The word axolotl comes from Xolotl. Xolotl was the god of fire and lightning, as well as death. He is depicted as a wild dog. Some translations say “atl” means water and “xolotl” means dog, making axolotls “water dogs”.
There is a myth that claims the god of wind, Ehecatl, started killing all of the other gods. Xolotl was not okay with this, so he transformed himself into three things. He became a maize plant with two stalks for some reason, a doubled maguey plant known as mexolotl, and of course our friend the axolotl. In the end, he still got killed though.
Xolotl also has another spirit animal, the Xoloitzcuintli. Don’t even ask me to try and pronounce that. It’s commonly known as the Mexican Hairless Dog now. Makes sense, since he was a dog god and all.
There is debate over whether this is the true origin over the name axolotl. Personally, I like to imagine that the Xolotl origin is true, because it’s pretty cool. However, things are often lost in translation, and historians can be wrong sometimes. Nahuatl is a language still spoken by over a million people today, by the way. Even if the Xolotl story isn’t true, we do know the word has some Aztec roots. Axolotls are such interesting creatures, right?
A Lotta Axolotls 
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