The story
Uncertain. Rómulo Cúneo Vidal said that the word comes from Aymara ari (crag) + iqui (place to sleep). Manuel A. Quiroga said that the word comes from ari (phylum) + aka (tip). Carlos Auza Arce said that it comes from ari (hill) + acca (neighboring).
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.