Note On the Use of Words "Maya" and "Mayan" These words are commonly misunderstood and misused. Therefore it is important to clarify the correct usage. Maya is the correct ethnonym of a culturally, historically, and linguistically diverse group of peoples who speak 32 languages, number approximately 6-8 million, and live in the same regions of their ancestral homelands. In its etymological origins Maya is an adjective before being an ethnonym and it continues to be used as such in Maya and Spanish. Anglophone speakers should therefore also use it as the correct adjective in phrases such as Maya culture, Maya civilization, Maya astronomy— not *Mayan culture, *Mayan astronomy, *Mayan cities, *Mayan civilization, etc. (see Aissen England, and Zavala Maldonado 2017; Beyyette and LeCount 2016; Campbell and Kaufman 1985; Castaneda 2021; Fischer and McKenna-Brown 1996; Law 2013; Montejo 2005; Restall 2005). Mayan is  never correctly used as an adjective except in reference to language. It is a term invented by linguists to function in the same manner as the word “Indo-European.” Mayan, or mayense in Spanish, was created refer to a) their analytical construction of the Mayan language family, b) any one or more of the 32 Mayan languages of this family, c) the proto-Mayan source language, and d) to speakers of Mayan languages. Thus, Mayan should be used in the same manner as the word Indo-European, to indicate languages or a linguistic attribute, not as an ethnonym  . The terms Mayan/mayense and Indo-European do not imply or denote any specific nationality, ethnicity, race, culture, religion, or historical time period but rather point to an extensive diversity of possible affiliations and belongings . The people who lived in and created the Classic Period Maya civilization are Maya. The descendents of those Classic Maya people are also Maya. They should always be called Maya and not Mayan .
Note On the Use of Words "Maya" and "Mayan" These words are commonly misunderstood and misused. Therefore it is important to clarify the correct usage. Maya is the correct ethnonym of a culturally, historically, and linguistically diverse group of peoples who speak 32 languages, number approximately 6-8 million, and live in the same regions of their ancestral homelands. In its etymological origins Maya is an adjective before being an ethnonym and it continues to be used as such in Maya and Spanish. Anglophone speakers should therefore also use it as the correct adjective in phrases such as Maya culture, Maya civilization, Maya astronomy— not *Mayan culture, *Mayan astronomy, *Mayan cities, *Mayan civilization, etc. (see Aissen England, and Zavala Maldonado 2017; Beyyette and LeCount 2016; Campbell and Kaufman 1985; Castaneda 2021; Fischer and McKenna-Brown 1996; Law 2013; Montejo 2005; Restall 2005). The people who lived in and created the Classic Period Maya civilization (200 BCE to 900/1000 BCE) are Maya. The descendants of those Classic Maya people are also Maya (not *Mayans). They should always be called Maya and not Mayan. Since at least the time of Spanish colonialism, Maya are also full participants in and culture bearers of "Western civilization" to the same extent than any other "westerner" is participates in, promotes, and continues "Western civilization." Maya are Mexicans, Guatemalans, Belizeans, Canadians, US citizens, Hondurans, as well as Europeans. Mayan is never correctly used as an adjective except in reference to language. It is a term invented by linguists to function in the same manner as the word “Indo-European.” Mayan, or mayense in Spanish, was created refer to a) their analytical construction of the Mayan language family, b) any one or more of the 32 Mayan languages of this family, c) the proto-Mayan source language, and d) to speakers of Mayan languages. Thus, Mayan should be used in the same manner as the word Indo-European, to indicate languages or a linguistic attribute, not as an ethnonym (that is, a term of identity based sociocultural belonging such as related to ethnicity, language, race, culture, religion) . The terms Mayan/mayense and Indo-European do not imply or denote any specific nationality, ethnicity, race, culture, religion, or historical time period but rather point to an extensive diversity of possible affiliations and belongings .
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Mayan is
The people who lived in and created the Classic Period Maya civilization (200 BCE to 900/1000 BCE) are Maya. The descendants of those Classic Maya people are also Maya (not *Mayans). They should always be called Maya and not Mayan. Since at least the time of Spanish colonialism, Maya are also full participants in and culture bearers of "Western civilization" to the same extent than any other "westerner" is participates in, promotes, and continues "Western civilization." Maya are Mexicans, Guatemalans, Belizeans, Canadians, US citizens, Hondurans, as well as Europeans.
A
Mayan is
A
(that is, a term of identity based sociocultural belonging such as related to ethnicity, language, race, culture, religion)
D
. The people who lived in and created the Classic Period Maya civilization are Maya. The descendents of those Classic Maya people are also Maya. They should always be called Maya and not Mayan