Nayeli and Nayeli Too: What’s in a Name?

If you have stayed with us at Glamping with Llamas, you may already know Nayeli and Nayeli Too.

Nayeli is our cosy glamping accommodation for two, while Nayeli Too is our larger RV, sleeping up to six. The similarity in their names is no accident, but the story behind the name Nayeli takes us rather further from the Cambridgeshire countryside than you might expect.

In fact, all the way to southern Mexico.

Where does the name Nayeli come from?

Nayeli is a Mexican name commonly associated with the indigenous Zapotec people, whose traditional homeland is centred on the modern Mexican state of Oaxaca (wah-HAH-kah).

The name is very widely said to mean “I love you” in Zapotec, and you will see that translation repeated on countless websites and lists of names.

The truth is a little more complicated.

There isn't one single Zapotec language. There are numerous related Zapotec languages and regional varieties, some of them quite distinct from one another. Linguists and Zapotec speakers have also questioned the familiar translation of Nayeli, and it is surprisingly difficult to trace “Nayeli means I love you” conclusively to an authoritative Zapotec source.

So we prefer not to present something uncertain as historical fact.

It is more accurate to say that Nayeli is a Mexican name commonly associated with Zapotec heritage and popularly understood to mean “I love you”.

We still think that's rather lovely.

Who are the Zapotec people?

The Zapotec are one of the indigenous peoples of southern Mexico, with a history stretching back thousands of years.

Their traditional homeland is centred on Oaxaca, where Zapotec civilisation developed into one of the great cultures of pre-Columbian Mesoamerica.

One of its most famous centres was Monte Albán, established around 500 BC on a spectacular hilltop overlooking the Oaxaca Valley.

Long before the arrival of the Spanish, Zapotec society had developed sophisticated cities, agriculture, systems of government, architecture, art and one of the earliest known writing traditions in Mesoamerica.

Monte Albán became an important political and ceremonial centre, with temples, plazas, tombs and monumental buildings that still survive today.

The Zapotec are not simply part of ancient history

It is easy when reading about ancient civilisations to talk about them as though they disappeared. The Zapotec did not.

Zapotec people live in Mexico today, particularly in Oaxaca and surrounding areas, and communities continue to maintain distinctive identities, languages, traditions, crafts, food and cultural practices.

So the Zapotec story is not simply an archaeological one. It is part of a living culture with thousands of years of history behind it.

From Nayeli to Nayeli Too

So how did we end up with two Nayelis in a field near Wisbech?

Nayeli came first.

Over time, the name became part of Glamping with Llamas rather than simply being the name we had originally chosen for one of our accommodation spaces. Guests stayed there, anniversaries were celebrated, breakfasts were eaten, llamas appeared outside and memories were made.

Then our RV arrived.

We could have given her a completely different name, but sitting alongside Nayeli there was something rather obvious, and slightly playful, about the answer.

She became Nayeli Too.

The two are quite different places to stay. Nayeli is designed for two, while Nayeli Too gives families and small groups considerably more space, sleeping up to six, including bunk beds.

But they share both a name and a little piece of its story.

And what does Nayeli mean to us?

Languages change, names travel and their stories sometimes become blurred along the way.

We may never be able to say with certainty that Nayeli literally translates as “I love you” in a particular Zapotec language, and we would rather tell that story accurately than repeat a romantic translation simply because it sounds nice.

But names also acquire meaning from what happens after they are given.

For us, Nayeli has become associated with people escaping everyday life for a while, spending time together, waking up in the countryside and discovering that there may well be a llama staring at them.

And Nayeli Too has continued that story.

So perhaps “I love you” isn't such a bad meaning for them after all.

Two very different places to stay.

Nayeli and Nayeli Too.

And one rather fascinating name that travelled a very long way before finding a home in our little corner of the Cambridgeshire/Norfolk/Lincolnshire border.