The name of Cholula comes from the Nahuatl word (). Its etymology has been explained either as "where water falls," or "place of those who fled" or a combination of the two. "Place of those who fled" is a reference to a myth that describes the arrival of Toltec refugees to this area because of the fall of Tula in 1000 CE. One Mexica myth states that the people of Cholula, called Chololtecs, were descended from one of the seven Aztec tribes that migrated to central Mexico from their mythical homeland Aztlan.