Etymology[edit]

Maynilà, the Filipino name for the city, comes from the phrase may-nilà, which translates to "where
indigo is found."[26] Nilà is derived from the Sanskrit word nīla (नील) which refers to indigo, and, by
extension, to several plant species from which this natural dye can be extracted.[26]
[27]
 The Maynilà name is more likely in reference to the presence of indigo-yielding plants growing in
the area surrounding the settlement, rather than Maynilà being known as a settlement that trades in
indigo dye.[26] This is because the settlement was founded several hundred years before indigo dye
extraction became an important economic activity in the area in the 18th century. [26] The
native Tagalog name for the indigo plant, tayum (or variations thereof)[26][28] actually finds use in
another toponym within the Manila area — Tayuman ("where the indigo [plant] is") — and elsewhere
in the Philippines (e.g., Tayum, Abra; Tagum, Davao del Norte).
Maynilà was eventually adopted into Spanish as Manila.

May-nilad[edit]

Plate depicting the "nilad" plant (Scyphiphora hydrophylacea), from Augustinian missionary Fray Francisco
Manuel Blanco's botanical reference, "Flora de Filipinas"

An antiquarian and inaccurate etymology asserts the origin of the city's name as may-
nilad ("where nilad is found").[26] Here, nilad is taken to be the name for one of two littoral plant
species:

 popularly, but incorrectly: the water hyacinth (Eichhornia crassipes) which still grows on the
banks of the Pasig River to this day.[26] However, it is a recent introduction to
the Philippines from South America and therefore could not have been the plant species referred
to in the toponym.[26]
 correctly: a shrub-like tree (Scyphiphora hydrophyllacea, formerly Ixora manila Blanco) found
in or near mangrove swamps,[26][29] This tree is the actual species that
the Tagalog terms nilád or nilár refer to.[30]
From a linguistic perspective it is unlikely for native Tagalog speakers to completely drop the final
consonant /d/ in nilad to arrive at the present form Maynilà.[26] As an example, nearby Bacoor still
retains the final consonant of the old Tagalog word bakoód ("elevated piece of land"), even in
old Spanish renderings of the placename (e.g., Vacol, Bacor).[31] Historians Ambeth Ocampo[32]
[33]
 and Joseph Baumgartner[26] have also found that in all early documents, the place had always
been written without the final /d/, thereby making the may-nilad etymology spurious.
The misidentification of nilad as the source of the toponym appears to originate from an 1887 essay
written by Trinidad Pardo de Tavera, in which he wrote nila as both referring to Indigofera
tinctoria (true indigo) and to Ixora manila (actually, nilád in Tagalog[30]).[27][26] Early 20th century
writings, such as those of Julio Nakpil[34] and of Blair and Robertson then repeated the claim. [35]
[33]
 Today, this erroneous etymology continues to be perpetuated through casual repetition in both
literature[36][37] and popular use, such as in Maynilad Water Services and the name of the underpass
close to Manila City Hall, Lagusnilad ("Nilad Pass").[32]