the name olmec means
Name. The name Olmec means rubber people in the Aztec 's language: Nahuatl. It was the Aztec name for the people who lived in this area at the much later time of Aztec dominance. Ancient Mesoamericans, spanning from ancient Olmecs to Aztecs, extracted latex from Castilla elastica, a type of rubber tree in the area.t was the Aztec name for the people who lived in this area at the much later time of Aztec dominance. Ancient Mesoamericans, spanning from ancient Olmecs to Aztecs, extracted latex from Castilla elastica, a type of rubber tree in the area.
The name Olmec comes from the Nahuatl word for the Olmecs: ÅlmÄcatl [oËlËmeËkatÍ¡É¬] (singular) or ÅlmÄcah [oËlËmeËkaÊ] (plural). This word is composed of the two words Ålli [ËoËlËi] , meaning rubber, and mÄcatl [ËmeËkatÍ¡É¬] , meaning people, so the word means rubber people.hey lived in the tropical lowlands of south-central Mexico, in the present-day states of Veracruz and Tabasco. It has been speculated that Olmec derive in part from neighboring Mokaya and/or MixeâZoque.