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. But there is a xiuhnel meaning "incapable" according to Wimmer 2004 (included in the Gran Diccionario Náhuatl). Perhaps more appealing for a person's name is the one provided by a human origin story written in Nahuatl in 1558. In that story Xiuhnel was a cloud serpent, according to an article by Willard Gingerich. Some also say Xiuhnel is the morning star. If so, then the rectangular shapes may relate to that.