Tenoch

teh-NOCH

Nahuatl

"stone, rock + prickly pear cactus"

Tenoch Origin and Meaning

The name Tenoch is a boy's name meaning "stone, rock + prickly pear cactus".

A cool, nature-inspired name of Nahuatl origin, Tenoch was the name of a 14th century leader in the Aztec empire, who ruled over the Tenochtitlan people (also known as the Mexicas). Whether Tenoch was an actual leader who became legendary, or a mythological figure who had giants for brothers is still debated.

Whether he existed or not, his name is most likely a combination of two Nahuatl symbols: te meaning "rock" and nochtli referring to the prickly pear cactus.

Pronounced as teh-NOCH, the -ch sound said more like the beginning of choose, not the end of loch, a more recent bearer is actor Tenoch Huerta.

Eleven boys were called Tenoch in the US in a recent year.