Yohualichan comes from the Nahuatl language and means "Place of the Night". Its first inhabitants speak Totonac, so it is very likely that the current name is a translation of an older but with the same meaning.

The area is of particular interest because their remains prove the dominant presence of groups of the coast in this region of the Sierra, they should have left Yohualichan before the advance of militant groups of central Mexico.

The site was used in ceremonies and certainly had an influence on others as it was stated as a venue to perform some kind of worship, even after abandonment occurred probably during the eleventh or twelfth centuries.

The Totonac had established in Yohualichan the early Classic period (200-900 AD) as an advanced group of El Tajin, Veracruz, a place that is located in a straight line, approximately 60 miles. The best known part of this area with influence of El Tajin is one that has monumental architecture similar to that of the metropolis.