The Maranao people (Maranao: ['mәranaw]; Filipino: Maranaw[2]), also spelled Meranao, Maranaw,

and Mëranaw, is a predominantly Muslim Filipino ethnic group native to the region around Lanao
Lake in the island of Mindanao. They are known for their artwork, weaving, wood, plastic and metal
crafts and epic literature, the Darangen. They are ethnically and culturally closely related to
the Iranun, and Maguindanaon, all three groups being denoted as speaking Danao languages and
giving name to the island of Mindanao. They are grouped with other Moro people due to their shared
religion.

The name "Maranao" (also spelled "Mëranaw", or "Maranaw") means "people of the lake"
(lanaw or ranaw, archaic danaw, means "lake" in the Maranao language). This is in reference
to Lake Lanao, the predominant geographic feature of the ancestral homeland of the Maranao
people.[3]
The original endonym of the ancestral Maranao is believed to be "Iranaoan".[4][5] This group later
diverged, resulting in the modern Maguindanaon and the Iranun people (whose names can also be
translated to "people of the lake"),[6] while the ancestral Iranaoan who stayed in Lake Lanao became
known as the Maranao. These three ethnic groups are still related to each other, share similar
cultures and speak languages belonging to the Danao language family.[4][5]