Xiuhnel (MH648v)

The name Xiuhnel was fairly common. In the Matrícula de Huexotzinco, it is often depicted as a group of turquoise (xihuitl) tesserae, bits that were used for making mosaic decorations. Xihuitl could mean turquoise, year, herbs, greens. Here, it clearly refers to a green herb, which could have had medicinal and/or food value. But all the representations for the name Xiuhnel seems to be phonetic, intending to bring forth "Xiuh-" the root of xihuitl (in all its various translations).

At first glance the name Xiuhnel appears to be a compound of xihuitl (turquoise) and nelli (true). James Lockhart suggests that -nel-, when in combinations, could lose that meaning, as noted in the OND under the term nelli. According to popular belief, Xiuhnel and Mimich were two of hundreds of Cloud Serpents associated with hunting, promiscuity, and drunkenness. See The Fate of Earthly Things by Molly H. Bassett (2015, 175). The translators of the Primeros Memoriales say that Xiuhnel and Mimich were prominent figures in many migration stories of central Mexican cultures. See the Sullivan and Nicholson edition of the PM (1997, 135). Some also say Xiuhnel is the morning star. If so, then the rectangular shapes in some Xiuhnel glyphs may relate to that. But there is also a xiuhnel meaning "incapable," according to A. Wimmer (2004) (included in the Gran Diccionario Náhuatl).