The official name of the state is "Estado Libre y Soberano de Querétaro de Arteaga" (Free and Sovereign State of Querétaro de Arteaga). The formal name of the capital is Santiago de Querétaro. However, both are commonly referred to simply as Querétaro. The most likely origin of the name is from the Purépecha word "Créttaro" which means "place with crags". However, there have been other explanations of the name including that it comes from Nahuatl and means Mesoamerican ball court, or even "island of the blue salamanders". Nevertheless, other scholars suggest that it can mean "place of the reptiles" or "place of the giant rocks". The city received the title of Noble y Leal Ciudad de Santiago de Querétaro in 1656, but after Independence, it was changed to simply Querétaro. It was returned to Santiago de Querétaro in 1996, when it was named a World Heritage Site. The ending of "de Arteaga" was added to the state’s name in 1867 in honor of General José María Cayetano Arteaga Magallanes. Originally from Mexico City, Arteaga became governor of Querétaro and distinguished himself as a soldier in the middle of the 19th century.