 The aboriginal title for this stream is "Tlahualilo", coming from the Nahuatl words "tlalli" meaning "fertile land" and "ahualila", meaning "water for irrigation".The Nazas took its name when the Spaniards, during the conquest of Mexico in the early 1500s, saw the original inhabitants on the shore of the river fishing with some artifacts similar to baskets, whose Spanish name is 'nasa', for that reason it became known as the 'river of nazas'.The Nazas watershed contains considerable desertic habitat, outside of the immediate riparian zone.