Guayaquil
Name

The origin of the name Santiago de Guayaquil has been much discussed, although that 'Guayaquil' is pre-Hispanic. Since the founding of the city by the Spanish in 1534, it has been linked to the name of Santiago in memory of its patron saint, Santiago, apostle of Christ. He is also designated as patron saint of several other Spanish American colonial cities, such as Santiago de Chile, as he is of Spain.

A theory based on a romantic legend, transmitted orally, attributes the name Guayaquil to the joining of the name of a leader named Guayas and of his wife Quil. They are symbols of the local resistance that—according to local tradition—chose to fight to the death (and as a final act, set fire to the town), rather than surrender to the Spanish conquerors.

A town with a name similar to Guayaquil is located near the city of Durán (Autopista Durán-Boliche km. 23). Investigations by archeologists and historians has led them to conclude that when the town was conquered by the Spanish, it was ruled by a man named Guayaquile.

They have not determined if the man or the town was first to receive that name. But researcher Ángel Véliz Mendoza, in his book on the man Guayaquile, says that there at least seven references to the toponym in pre-1543 documents. It is believed that the name Guayaquil is taken from the population's final home, in lands of the chief Guayaquile. This region was occupied by the chonos, people whose archeological name (in Spanish) is Cultura Milagro-Quevedo.

After several location changes and fires, the city was founded in 1547, and named the "Muy Noble y Muy Leal Ciudad de Santiago de Guayaquil" ("Very noble and very loyal city of Santiago de Guayaquil"). After the city's independence in 1820, the words "very noble and very loyal" disappeared from use, as the city was no longer part of the Spanish Empire. Today, the official name of Santiago de Guayaquil is seldom used outside of official contexts.
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