Before the Spanish conquest of the Muisca of the Altiplano Cundiboyacense, the area of Cerinza was ruled by the "cacique" of Tundama, present-day Duitama. The "cacicazgo" was part of the Muisca Confederation, the former country in the central highlands of the Colombian Andes. The Muisca spoke Chibcha and in that language Cerinza means "my throat". The village was named after the "cacique" with the same name.