Out of Jalisco’s 125 municipalities, 105 have names derived  from physical descriptions expressed principally in the indigenous Náhuatl and Coca tongues.

The name of the state comes from the combination of three Nahuatl terms: xalli, meaning sand, īxtli, face or surface, and the place designator -co, translating into “on la surface of sand.”   

Up  until 1836, Jalisco was written “Xalisco”, with initial X because it was the letter used to reproduce the sound corresponding to “J”, until the latter letter was incorporated into the Latin alphabet. In addition, in Nahuatl, the letter X reflected the phoneme “sh” in English.

Toponymy, or nomenclature for many localities in the Lake Chapala region likewise originated from indigenous terminology.

Chapala’s name is subject to various interpretations, including “very wet or soaked place” in Coca, “place of búcaros or small pots” from Nahuatl, or “place of grasshoppers on the water” also from Nahuatl.

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