Santa Cruz Xoxocotlán is a small city and
municipality located 5 km from the
state capital of Oaxaca in the south of Mexico. It is part of the
Centro District in the
Valles Centrales region. The name comes from the
Nahuatl word “xocotl” which means “sour or sweet and sour fruit” with the duplicative “xo” to indicate “very.” The meaning of the entire phrase means “among the very sour fruits.” The
Mixtec name for the area was Nuunitatnohoyoo which mean “land of the moon-faced flowers.” However, the community is most commonly referred to simply as Xoxo.