Nahuas
Largest Indigenous group in Mexico, speakers of Nahuatl.
The Nahuas (pronounced NAH-wahz) are a Uto-Aztecan ethnic group and one of the Indigenous peoples of Mexico, with smaller communities also found in El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, and Costa Rica. They form the largest Indigenous group in Mexico and represent the largest population of any North American Indigenous people whose members are native speakers of their own Indigenous language, which for the Nahuas is Nahuatl. Across all Indigenous languages of the Americas, Nahuatl is often cited among the most widely spoken, though its exact ranking relative to Guaraní and Quechua varies depending on census data and definitions. The Mexica—better known as the Aztecs—are of Nahua ethnicity, as are their historical rivals and later Spanish allies, the Tlaxcallans (or Tlaxcaltecs). The earlier Toltecs are also widely believed to have been Nahua. However, during the pre-Columbian era, the Nahuas were divided into many distinct groups that did not necessarily share a single collective identity.
The term "Nahua" comes from the Nahuatl root *nāhua-*, meaning "audible, intelligible, clear," with related words like *nāhuat(i)* ("to speak clearly") and *nāhuatl* ("something that makes an agreeable sound" or "someone who speaks well or speaks their own language"). This was used in contrast to *popoloca*, which meant "to speak unintelligibly" or "to speak a foreign language." Another term is *Nāhuatlācatl* (singular) or *Nāhuatlācah* (plural), literally "Nahuatl-speaking people." The Nahuas are sometimes called Aztecs, though this usage has largely fallen out of favor in scholarship except when referring specifically to the Aztec Empire. They have also been referred to as *Mēxihcatl* (singular) or *Mēxihcah* (plural), or in Spanish as *Mexicanos*, after the Mexica, the Nahua group that founded the Aztec Empire.
The Nahuan languages—collectively called Nahuatl—include many variants, several of which are mutually intelligible. Around 1.5 million Nahuas speak Nahuatl, while another million speak only Spanish. Fewer than 2,000 native speakers of Nawat remain in El Salvador and Nicaragua. It is believed that the Nahua peoples originated near Aridoamerica, in what are now the Mexican states of Durango and Nayarit or the Bajío region.
Quick Facts
- Group
- Nahuas
- Population
- 2,643,236+
- Rels
- Christianity (Predominantly Roman Catholic with pre-Columbian influence), Aztec religion
- Langs
- Nahuatl, Nahuat and Spanish
- Related
- Pipil, Nicarao, Maya peoples, Mexicaneros, Indigenous people of the Americas and Mestizo, Mexica, Tlaxcaltecs
- Native Name
- Masewalij
Facts from the source article.
Lore & Background
The Nahuas are suggested to have originated near Aridoamerica, in regions of present-day Mexican states of Durango and Nayarit or the Bajío region. They split off from other Uto-Aztecan speaking peoples and migrated into central Mexico around 500–1000 BCE, settling in and around the Basin of Mexico and spreading out to become the dominant people in central Mexico.
Reader's Guide
The Nahuas are significant as the largest Indigenous group in Mexico and the largest population of native speakers of an Indigenous language in North America. Their language, Nahuatl, served as a lingua franca in Central Mexico before the Spanish conquest due to Aztec hegemony, and its role expanded during early colonial rule as the Spaniards encouraged it as a literary language and tool for conversion. Today, about 1.5 million Nahuas speak Nahuatl, though many more are of Nahua ethnicity but speak only Spanish or avoid self-identification due to discrimination. The Mexican government does not categorize citizens by ethnicity, only by language, so official counts likely underrepresent the Nahua population. In Central America, Nahua groups such as the Pipil of El Salvador and the Nicarao of Nicaragua maintain smaller populations, with their Nawat language endangered or extinct. The Nahuas' legacy includes the Aztec Empire, numerous place names across Mesoamerica, and ongoing cultural and linguistic vitality despite centuries of change.
Did You Know?
- Nahuatl ranks third among all Indigenous languages across the Americas after Guaraní and Quechua.
- The Mexica (Aztecs) and the Tlaxcallans are both of Nahua ethnicity.
More in Indigenous Peoples Of The World 1-24
Spotted an error? Know more?
Reader corrections go straight into our review queue. Suggest an edit · How this site is sourced