Iztaccíhuatl was the daughter of the Aztec emperor, a princess famous for her beauty and her noble heart. She was in love with the warrior Popocatépetl and waited for him while he fought in the war. When the rival warrior falsely told her that Popocatépetl had died, she stopped eating and sleeping and died of grief.

In Nahuatl, her name means “white woman.” The volcano that bears her name is known as “the sleeping woman” (la mujer dormida), because its snowy outline looks like a woman lying on her back.