Rio Grande - Names and Pronunciation

Names and Pronunciation

Río Grande is Spanish for "Big River" and Río Grande del Norte means "Great River of the North". In English, Rio Grande is pronounced either /ˈriːoʊ ˈɡrænd/ or /ˈriːoʊ ˈɡrɑːndeɪ/. Because río means "river" in Spanish, the phrase Rio Grande River is redundant.

In Mexico it is known as Río Bravo or Río Bravo del Norte, bravo meaning (among other things) "furious" or "agitated".

Historically, the Pueblo and Navajo peoples also had names for the Rio Grande/Rio Bravo:

• mets'ichi chena, Keresan, "Big River"
• posoge, Tewa, "Big River"
• paslápaane, Tiwa, "Big River"
• hañapakwa, Towa, "Great Waters"

The four Pueblo names likely predated the Spanish entrada by several centuries.

• Tó Baʼáadi, Navajo, "Female River" (the direction south is female in Navajo cosmology)

Rio del Norte was most commonly used for the upper Rio Grande (roughly, within the present-day borders of New Mexico) from Spanish colonial times to the end of the Mexican period in the mid-19th century. This use was first documented by the Spanish in 1582. Early American settlers in south Texas began to use the modern 'English' name Rio Grande. By the late 19th century, in the United States, the name Rio Grande had become standard in being applied to the entire river, from Colorado to the sea.

By 1602, Río Bravo had become the standard Spanish name for the lower river, below its confluence with the Rio Conchos.