Meztli is likely inspired by the Nahuatl word for moon, adapted into a Spanish-usage name form.
Meztli is a name of Nahuatl origin, the classical language of the Aztec civilization, and it carries one of the most luminous meanings possible: "moon." In the cosmology of the Mexica people, the moon was not a distant, passive orb but a living, powerful force — Metztli (an alternate spelling) was the deity governing the night sky, time cycles, and the waters that nourish the earth. The moon's phases structured the Aztec calendar, and the concept of meztli was woven into the measurement of months (metztli also meant "month"), connecting celestial observation to everyday life in an intimate, continuous way.
The moon goddess in Aztec tradition was a complex figure, sometimes identified with Coyolxauhqui, the moon deity whose fragmented form was scattered across the sky by her brother Huitzilopochtli — a myth that encoded themes of sacrifice, transformation, and the eternal tension between light and darkness. Bearing the name Meztli thus connects a child to one of the most ancient and sophisticated astronomical traditions in the Americas, a civilization that tracked lunar cycles with extraordinary precision long before European contact. In recent decades, Meztli has experienced a quiet renaissance as part of a broader movement among families of Mexican and Indigenous heritage to reclaim and celebrate pre-Columbian names.
It appears in poetry, music, and art as a symbol of cultural pride and continuity. For non-Indigenous parents drawn to its sound and meaning, Meztli offers a beautiful, uncommon choice — though it carries the weight of a specific cultural inheritance that makes its adoption a thoughtful act. The name is pronounced roughly mez-tlee, and its soft, silvery sound mirrors the light it evokes.