The original name of the settlement and the area was Taximaroa. The origin of this name is unclear. Some sources claim some variation of this had been the name since Toltec times, but this form is from the Purépecha language. The meaning is similarly unclear. It may mean “altar of the god’s put on the road” in reference to a place where the Purépecha defeated the Aztecs. Another source says it means “place of carpenters,” but the Aztec name for the place Tlaximaloyan, means this and was probably given due to is similarity with the Purépecha name. Another source states that the name means “place of traitors.” This etymology stems from Conquest. Cristobal de Olid was on his way west to Tzintzuntzan when an Purépecha army was heading east to intercept him. Olid, along with a number of Purépecha from this area, tricked the army into an ambush and captured them. After the Conquest, the name changed to San José Taximaroa. Near the end of the 18th century, a hacienda was acquired here by Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla. This later prompted the name of the municipality to change to Villa Hidalgo Taximaroa in 1908, and then again to Ciudad Hidalgo in 1922.