[4] During the early Spanish colonial period, the conquistador Miguel de Loarca also used the name "Yliguenes" for other coastal-dwelling Visayan peoples in Cebu, Bohol, and Western Negros.

The term "Panayan" is derived from "Panay," the name of the island, with the addition of the suffix "-an," which typically denotes a group of people associated with a place.

[7][a] Like many other Filipino ethnic groups such as the Ilocano, there are organized associations of migrant Hiligaynon that aim to celebrate their culture through their own communities.

Some even speak Ilocano (a native language of the Luzon ethnic group of the same name sharing residency with Hiligaynons in Soccsksargen area) as well as the island's Indigenous languages because of intermingling and coexistence between the Indigenous and migrant ethnicities in the area, resulting from southward migration from Luzon and Visayas since the 20th century since Mindanao, particularly in Soccsksargen, is a melting pot of cultures.

Cultivation practices for rice and sugarcane were well established among the early Hiligaynon before the arrival of the Spanish, who were also able to produce wine from the juice of these crops.

[5][9] By the 19th century, the sugarcane industry became more expansive and modernized due to the confluence of increased port access and new technology and financial resources.

[16] The British vice-consul in Iloilo, Nicholas Loney, was instrumental in introducing technological and financial resources to the existing sugar elites.

Better sugarcane seeds were introduced from Sumatra, and Loney undertook the purchasing of centrifugal iron mills, as well as the provision of loans to planters.

This class structure was to persist into the Commonwealth era and as the sugar industry shifted its focus from Panay to Negros following a labor strike in 1930–1931.

[5][17] The slash-and-burn system known as kaingin was and continues to be used by farmers in the mountainous interior of central Panay, using bolo knives to cut trees and wooden dibbers to plant seeds.

[5] This practice is pursued to a lesser extent by residents of the mountains, who use traditional nets and traps and poisonous plant materials in their methods.

However, weaving declined by the end of the century due to the popularity of growing sugarcane and the availability of cheap British cotton cloth produced in factories.

[16][18] Today, local weavers have found a niche market in specialty fabrics such as hablon, an expensive cloth woven out of jusi and piña fibers.

[18] The iconic Hablon textiles of the Kabankalan indigenous peoples's products include shawl, scarf, bandano tobao (headscarf), t-shirts, table runner, place mat and tela.

[20] Cebu Pacific introduced its QR Flight codes pattered after traditional weaving of hues of brightness and plaid designs of Iloilo's Hablon to promote local tourism.

Some of them were part of the educated elite who sought for reforms, such as Graciano López Jaena, who led the reformist newspaper La Solidaridad.

Hiligaynon settlers in Mindanao may have also assimilated Lumad and Moro traditions to varying degrees, and vice versa (e.g., the use of the Hiligaynon-language Toto as a nickname by non-Hiligaynons).

[26] Modeled after Ati-atihan in Kalibo, Aklan, Dinagyang venerates the Santo Niño, and specifically commemorates the purchase of Panay Island from the Indigenous Ati by 10 fleeing Bornean datus (chiefs).

La Paz Batchoy is one such dish, composed of pork innards, liver, and heart in a broth with noodles and trimmings such as chicharon and garlic.

Pancit Molo is also a popular dish, a wonton soup with dumplings filled with pork, chicken, and shrimp, as well as trimmings of green onions and garlic.

Particular to Western Visayas is Ibus, a finger food of glutinous rice wrapped in coconut leaves in the shape of a roll.

[31] Kadyos, baboy, kag lanka (KBL), Laswa, and Kansi are some of the other soup dishes originating from the Hiligaynon people.