Morro (a round headland, bluff). It is upon such a rock that the well-known Morro Castle at Havana is situated. See page [128]. This place receives its name from Morro Rock, a remarkable round rock, 600 feet high, situated at the entrance to the bay. The name has no reference to its grey color, as some people imagine, but refers to its shape—round like a head.
Mugu Point, on the coast of Ventura County. The Mugus were a tribe of Indians. The word mugu means “beach.”
Muñiz (a surname).
Murietta (a surname). See page [81].
Nacimiento (birth), referring in this case to the birth of Christ. See page [128].
La Nación (the nation). See Del Rey, page [371].
Napa, formerly pronounced Napá. See page [242].
Naranjo (orange-tree), in Tulare County.
La Natividad (the nativity). See page [160].
Natoma, is a name about which the romanticists have concocted some pleasing theories upon very slender foundation. According to scientists it is a tribal name, indicating direction, a favorite method of naming among the Indians. It may mean “north people,” or “up-stream,” or “down-stream,” or some such term of direction. By a severe wrench of the imagination, as has been suggested, it may be considered that “up-stream” would eventually lead to the mountains, and that in the mountains there were people, among whom there were undoubtedly girls, and in this “long-distance” manner Mr. Joseph Redding’s definition of Natoma as the “girl from the mountains” might be evolved, but the imagination is likely to suffer from such a violent strain. In the same way, the persons who believe it to mean “clear water” may have acquired this idea from the simple fact that the word contains an indirect reference to the stream in pointing out the direction of its current. It is disappointing perhaps, but nevertheless true, that Californian Indian nomenclature has little of romance behind it. The Indians usually chose names based upon practical ideas, most often ideas of direction, such as “north people,” “south people,” etc.