It has been said that the name derives from the Nahuatl language, meaning "between two waters", other accepted definitions are "place of the holed-rock" " or from Tarahumara, "dry and sandy place". The name itself is older than the Spanish conquest of Mexico. The city was founded on October 12, 1709, by Blas Cano de los Rios and Antonio Deza y Ulloa, a Spanish explorer, as El Real de Minas de San Francisco de Cuéllar. Don Ildefonso de Irigoyen donated the land for the city foundation. The town was erected a Villa in 1718 (or 1715) with the name of San Felipe el Real de Chihuahua, and the name was shortened in 1823.