On the name "Xochitl"

First, a pronunciation guide. The "X" is just an "S" sound. The hard part is is the "tl" combination. It rhymes with "beetle," except that the "T" remains a true "T," and isn't softened to a "D" sound. However, if you still find this tricky to say, don't get too hung up on it. The emphasis goes on the first syllable, which means that even if you can say the ending properly, it's barely audible. In fact, every time I've heard this name in Latin America, the "tl" at the end has been dropped altogether. So, the conventional pronunciation is "SO-chee."

Second, a bit of explanation of why we chose this name. I first heard the name "Xochitl" in Nicaragua (where I lived for five years), and liked it immediately, both for its sound and for its historical connection. It comes from the indigenous Nahuatl language.

Actually, it's more accurate to say that Nahuatl is really a family of multiple languages, with scores of dialects, and yet the community that was actually called the Nahuatl people were minor players on the Mesoamerican scene. Their more famous cousins to the north, the Aztecs, never ruled them, but certainly influenced them culturally.

"Xochitl" means "flower." The verb form is "xotla," and means "to bloom," and also "to catch fire." Interestingly, it was also the name of one of their days, and as such, appears on the famous Aztec calendar as a highly stylized flower.

Today, Xochitl is known (though still not common) as a girl's name, but centuries ago, it was more common as a boy's name.