Tijuana is the fifth most populous city in Mexico and the sixth largest metropolitan area in the country. Tijuana is located on the very border with the United States, which, on the one hand, leaves a special imprint on city life, and on the other hand, makes the city important in terms of economic and cultural exchange between countries. Tijuana is considered the most visited city in the world because about 300,000 people pass through Tijuana's border crossings every day. San Diego.
There are several versions of the origin of the name «Tijuana». The most popular of them say that the city is named after a woman.
According to one legend, once upon a time in a village located in the modern area of Campestre Murua, there lived a woman named Tía Juana. This lady was famous for her nobility and always helped travelers passing through the area or who were in trouble. Tourists began to tell each other that they were going to Tia Juana, and that’s how the name of the area and the city arose.
Another version, better documented, says that the name Tía Juana belonged to Doña Juana de la Peña, the Spanish Marquis of Villapuente, who traveled to northern Mexico on an evangelization mission in the 18th century. She was one of the first Spanish women to arrive in Baja California. The trip and the mission were financed by her uncle Don José de la Peña y Puente, Marquis of Villapuente, who also supported the missions of the Jesuits and Franciscans in Otro Mexico City, in other words in modern Baja California.
Xfrom Doña Juana was educated among the nuns of the Order of Poor Clares of the Capuchins, she never took vows. She never married or had children, for this reason her family and friends called her Tia Juana. When her brother Adolfo de la Peña arrived in the Tijuana Valley, he founded a ranch, which he called “La Tia Juana.” (Spanish: La Tía Juana - «Aunt Juana») and gave it to his sister. Dona Juana settled in this place and devoted herself to the Christian education of the natives, and also received travelers.
Doña Juana died in 1769, when Mission San Diego de Alcala was founded in Alta California, which at that time was part of the Viceroyalty of New Spain. There is no documentary historical evidence about the life of Doña Juana, since the archives burned down during a fire started by the indigenous people of San Diego in 1775. However, stories about Dona Juan that might indicate the origin of the word Tijuana survive in the writings of her contemporaries.
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Perhaps both Tia Juana — this is the same woman, only the legends are different. Over time, the word Tia Juana in conversation was simplified to the familiar Tijuana.
There are other versions. One of them claims that the name Tijuana comes from the indigenous languages of the Yuman (Kumiyay) people and means «by the sea» or «primorye». In addition, it is believed that the indigenous people called Cerro Colorado Tijuan or Ticuan, which means «lying turtle». In Spanish documents of the era, Tijuana is referred to as Tiguana, Tiuana, Teguana, Tiwana, Tijuan, Ticuan and Tijuana. However, at the moment there are no reliable studies confirming one of the hypotheses about the origin of the city’s name.