The origin of the name "Culina" is unknown; it was already in use in the 1860s when William Chandless became the first English explorer to penetrate their region. The term may have combined the Culina with a distinct Panoan group called the "Kolina." The Culina refer to themselves as "Madiha" (people) and distinguish seventy or more subgroups, usually by an animal name such as the "Pitsi Madiha" (pitsi -monkey people) or the "Kurubu Madiha" (kurubu -fish people).