Possible Nahuatl etymologies of Guadalupe
Because Juan Diego did not speak Spanish, it has been proposed by multiple authors that the name "Guadalupe", referring to the image of Our Lady of Guadalupe, was likely derived from a word in Nahuatl. While it is not the ultimate origin of the name, as prior to the Spanish conquest of the Aztec Empire it was already associated with the veneration of Mary at the Our Lady of Guadalupe in Extremadura in Guadalupe, Cáceres, Spain, some authors have proposed that a similar-sounding Nahuatl word was interpreted by the Spanish as "Guadalupe" due to the connection.
Coatlaxopeuh
Coatlaxopeuh is a word proposed by Mariano Jacobo Rojas of Tepoztlán as a possible Nahuatl origin of the word Guadalupe, the appellation of Our Lady of Guadalupe. The suggestion of a Nahuatl etymology for this name was part of the indigenista debates of the mid-20th-century Mexico, in which prominent intellectuals reinterpreted Mexican history with a renewed emphasis on the nation's indigenous heritage. Many other proposed Nahuatl etymologies of Guadalupe have been suggested; however, in the devotional literature, coatlaxopeuh remains the most widely accepted.Tequantlanopeuh
The earliest suggestion that the word "Guadalupe" was a corruption of an original Nahuatl word was by the priest Luis Becerra y Tanco in 1666. He proposed that since Juan Diego did not speak Spanish, and since the Nahuatl language did not have the voiced consonants "g" or "d", it was likely that the name had originally been a Nahuatl word which was later misheard by Spaniards as “Guadalupe”. He proposed that the original name could have been "tequantlanopeuh" which he translated as "She who originated from the summit of the rocks".Tlecuauhtlapeupeuh
Father Mario Rojas Sánchez who translated the Nicān Mopōhua suggested the Nahuatl name "Tlecuauhtlapeupeuh," which he translates as "She who emerges from the region of light like the Eagle from fire".Scholar Jeanette Rodríguez, citing Xavier Escalada, notes "the Nahuatl language does not contain the letters d and g; therefore Our Lady's name could not have been "Guadalupe". She also presents the theory that Juan Diego and his uncle called the Virgin "Tlecuauhtlacupeuh", saying "The Nahuatl understanding of 'Tlecuauhtlacupeuh' is La que viene volando de la luz como el águila de fuego. The region of light was the dwelling place of the Aztec gods, and the eagle was a sign from the gods. To the Spaniards, it sounded like 'Guadalupe' and reminded them of their Virgin at home."
Rodríguez holds that the Spanish thought of "Guadalupe of Estremadura, Spain. A large number of conquistadors were from the province of Estremadura and quite naturally were devoted to the local patroness....the devotion to Our Lady of Guadalupe in Estremadura was reaching its peak at the time of the first contacts between Spain and the New World".
Rodríguez adds that the name "To the Spaniards...reminded them of their Virgin at home. To the natives, it...referred to a sign that had come from their gods." This allowed each side to see in the story something it "understood and valued, which would inevitably bring them together as a unifying force."