indicate the level to which a name has been verified.
Gender Feminine
Meaning & History
From the English word for the peyote cactus, from Nahuatl. It was used by American author Zane Grey for a half-Navajo, half-Spanish woman in his novel The Heritage of the Desert (1910) and the subsequent silent film adaptation (1924), in which the character was played by actress Bebe Daniels. In the book, Mescal was named after a 'cactus flower' by her grandfather, a Navajo chief. It also coincides with an Irish surname (see Mescal).