The Maya seemed to have referred to it as "puh", as "place of reeds". This is similar to other Central Mexican settlements that took the name 'Tollan' such as Tula-Hidalgo and Cholula. It looks like "Tollan" was a general term, used for large settlements. In the concept of urbanism of the time, "Tollan" and other names seemed like a metaphor. They linked the bundles of reeds and rushes that formed part of the environment of the Valley of Mexico and the large gathering of people in a city.