Gary Brady, age 11, of Douglas, Arizona, for her question:

How did Mexico get its name?

Imagine a new world, populated with strangers speaking unpronounceable words in dozens of different dialects. That is how Central America must have appeared to the Spaniards in the 1500s. The conquered Aztecs had no written language, no records of the centuries of previous Central America civilizations. The Spaniards had to translate what they heard, by ear. For example, the name of an Aztec war god sounded somewhat like mexictli. The early Aztecs called themselves Miexica  and claimed that an eagle on a cactus had pointed out the site for their capitol. city on Lake Texcoco.

The name Mexico may have arisen from several similar sounding words, blended from Spanish and Central America origins. The legendary eagle of the Aztecs appears on the national flag    and most experts agree that Mexico City was named for the Aztec war god, Tifexictli. This seems to be the most likely explanation. In any case, we know that the country of Mexico took its name from Mexico City.