The people most accurately linked with the Aztec Empire in modern history are the Mexica.
The Mexica were a Nahuatl-speaking people who established Mexico-Tenochtitlan on an island in Lake Texcoco. Founded traditionally in 1325, Tenochtitlan grew from a vulnerable settlement into the dominant power of central Mexico. In modern scholarship, “Mexica” is often preferred when referring specifically to the people who ruled from Tenochtitlan.
The Aztec Empire was not a single ethnic nation in the modern sense. It was a political alliance formed by three Nahua city-states: Tenochtitlan, Tetzcoco, and Tlacopan. The Mexica were the leading member, while many other peoples lived within or paid tribute to the empire. “Aztec” is therefore a useful broad historical label, but it can obscure the empire’s ethnic and political diversity.
The other options are distinct peoples or civilizations: the Zapotec lived mainly in Oaxaca, the Inca ruled much of the Andes, and the Maya occupied parts of southern Mexico and Central America. They interacted with the Aztec sphere but were not the people who led the empire.