'Huehuetenango' means place of the ancients (or ancestors) in Nahuatl, which is the name Gonzalo de Alvarado adopted from his Nahua allies when Zaculeu and Xinabahul were conquered.

Many people of Mam descent still live in and around Huehuetenango, and the nearby ruins of Zaculeu have become a tourist attraction.

Huehuetenango Airport (IATA: HUG , ICAO: MGHT ) is within the city and has a paved 825 metres (2,707 ft) runway and a small terminal building.

[4] The city has a subtropical highland climate (Köppen: Cwb), with warm summers and mild winters.

His younger brother, Mario Enrique Ríos Montt the emeritus auxiliary bishop of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Guatemala in 1932.