How did the ancient Maya give their children unique names?

Over the past decades, scientists have made many interesting discoveries about the life of the ancient Maya. According to them, the Maya was one of the most advanced civilizations in Central America.

The Maya originated in Mesoamerica, which is present-day Central America. This area is located between Mexico and South America. Thousands of ancient Maya people lived in what is now Guatemala, Belize, Honduras, El Salvador and southern Mexico.

Picture 1 of How did the ancient Maya give their children unique names?
After the child is born, the parents will ask the elders to do the naming ceremony.

Mayan life has many interesting and unexpected things. Among these is that they have a very unique way of naming their children. Specifically, families in Maya who lived hundreds of years ago had a tradition of naming their children based on the date of birth in the month.

Each day in the Mayan calendar has its own way of naming boys and girls born on that day. So, after the baby is born, the parents will ask the elders to do the naming ceremony. At that time, the village elders will check the calendar. A Mayan year consists of 260 days and 13 months. Each month has 20 days.

According to the Mayan concept, each day of the month of the year carries its own energy source. From here, they come up with a series of names suitable for each day for parents to choose from.

Popular names for boys in ancient Maya include: Aapo, Fabio, Yunuen, Yaxkin, Cadmae, Pakal, Hugo, Kaax, Itzamna.

Meanwhile, popular names for girls include: Rigoberta, Yolotli, Yuritzi, Itzel, Abarrane, Abha.