Nahua peoples
It is suggested that the Nahua peoples originated in Aridoamerica, in regions of the present day Mexican states of Durango and Nayarit. They split off from the other Uto-Aztecan speaking peoples and migrated into central Mexico around 500 CE. The Nahua then settled in and around the Basin of Mexico and spread out to become the dominant people in central Mexico. However, Nahuatl-speaking populations were present in smaller populations throughout Mesoamerica.