 The name "Xōchiquetzal" is a compound of "xōchitl" (“flower”) and "quetzalli" (“precious feather; quetzal tail feather”).In Classical Nahuatl morphology, the first element in a compound modifies the second and thus the goddess' name can literally be taken to mean “flower precious feather” or ”flower quetzal feather”.Her alternative name, "Ichpōchtli", corresponds to a personalized usage of "ichpōchtli" (“maiden, young woman”).