Mayan Names
Even now, Mayan hieroglyphs can not be completely read. The names that follow are an approximation of what Mayan names were like.
Female Names
Xoc - Principal wife of Shield Jaguar (1)
Zac-Kuk - Mother of Pacal and brief ruler of Palenque (from 612 to 615). She died in 640 A.D. (2)
Six Sky - Daughter of the ruler of Dos Pilas and forceful mother of a king (1)
Male Names
Ah Cacao - Ruler of Tikal (1)
Butz Chan - Ruler of Copan (1)
Chaan-muan - Ruler of Bonampak in the 8th century A.D. (2)
Chan Bahlum - "Snake Jaguar" - son of Pacal, ruled 683 to 702 A.D. (1)
Cocom - A late Mayapan ruler (1)
Cu Ix - Ruler of Copan (1)
Kan-Bahlum-Mo - Father of Pacal (2)
Kan Boar - Ruler of Tikal (1)
Pacal - "Shield" - Ruler of Palenque who ruled for 68 years, from 615 to 683 A.D. and who was buried in an underground tomb.(1, 2)
Pacal Balam(?) - "Shield Jaguar" - Ruler of Yaxchilan(1)
Tutul Xiu - A rival Mayapan leader (1)
Yax Kuk Mo - Ruler of Copan (1)
Yax Pac - "Sun at Horizon" or "Rising Sun" or "First Dawn" - Ruler of Copan c. 763 A.D. (1)
Yaxun Balam - "Bird Jaguar" - Ruler of Yaxchilan (1)
18 Rabbit - Ruler of Copan (1)
Animal Skull - 22nd ruler of Tikal, ruled c. 562 A.D. when Caracol defeated Tikal (1)
Cauac Sky - Ruler of Quirigua who captured and sacrificed 18 Rabbit of mighty Copan (1)
Curl Nose - Father of Stormy Sky of Tikal (1)
Double Bird - 21st ruler of Tikal, ruled from 537 to 562 A.D. (1)
Flint Sky - Ruler of Dos Pilas c. 645 A.D. (1)
Jaguar Paw - 9th ruler of Tikal (1)
Jaguar-Paw Jaguar - Ruler of Site Q (possibly Calakmul) around 686 A.D. (1)
Jaguar-Paw Skull - 14th ruler of Tikal c.500 A.D. (1)
Jeweled Skull - (1)
Mat Head - Ruler of Copan (1)
Moon Jaguar - Ruler of Copan (1)
Moon Zero Bird - Ruler of Tikal (1)
Smoke Jaguar - Ruler of Copan from 628 to 695 A.D. (1)
Smoke Monkey - Ruler of Copan (1)
Smoke Skull - Ruler of Copan (1)
Smoking Frog - Tikal general who was originally from Teotihuacan or a Teotihuacan-influenced site, such as Kaminaljuyu (1)
Smoking Squirrel - Ruler of Naranjo (1)
Spearthrower Owl - Father of Curl Nose, possibly from a Teotihuacan-influenced site (1)
Stormy Sky - Ruler of Tikal from 426 to 457 A.D. (1)
Waterlily Jaguar - Ruler of Copan (1)
Mayan Cities
Copan - Copan was a major trading center near the far southeastern border of the Mayan lowlands. Merchants traded with non-Mayan Central America.
Palenque - Palenque was in the northwestern corner of the Mayan-speaking lands near the mountains of modern Chiapas.
Sources:
(1) Maya Civilization, by T. Patrick Culbert, St. Remy Press, 1993.
(2) The Story of Writing: Alphabets, Hieroglyphs, & Pictograms, Andrew Robinson, New York: Thames & Hudson, 1995.
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Updated August 2001
