CLAIM
Guadalupe in the native language means “crush the head of the serpent.” This is a reference to the Gospel in Genesis (3:15), “Mary, defeater of evil.”
TRUTH
This is false. Guadalupe is a word of Arab origin. The Arabs were in the Iberian Peninsula for around eight centuries, so many Spanish words come from their language. One such word is Guadalupe, which comes from: Wadi al Lub. Wadi al Lub can be translated as “river of black gravel” or “riverbed” or “river channel;” not the water, but “that which leads the water.”
There was a monastery on the Iberian Peninsula called the Monastery of Guadalupe of Extremadura, so the name Guadalupe was well-known by Spaniards.
Mary appeared with the name Guadalupe in a manner consistent with her other mission as described in the Gospel, specifically at the wedding in Cana: “Do everything He tells you” (John 2: 5). Mary channels us to Jesus. She leads us to her beloved son, “the Living Water.”