Aymara language
The indigenous name of this city is . Although the name was used in Southern Quechua, its origin is found in the Aymara language. The word is derived from the phrase ('Rock of the owl'), related to the city's foundation myth of the Ayar Siblings. According to this legend, Ayar Awqa () acquired wings and flew to the site of the future city; there he was transformed into a rock to mark the possession of the land by his ("lineage"):