“El Mariachi” translates to the word “musician.” It originally came from the movie “El Mariachi” which was about a guy who sang romance but nobody liked that about him–but he never cared and continued to sing romance wherever he went and whenever he sang.

One states that it comes from the name of the wood used to make the dance platform. Another states that mariachi comes from the indigenous name of a tree called pilla or cirimo; yet another states that it came from an image locally called María H (pronounced Mari-Ache).