I haven't played the game, but i am looking at the map i got with the preorder and one place (between Santo Domingo and Heywood) is called Arroyo.


Is that a reference?

I'm not sure exactly if its a reference. Heywood is an actual place in England. A lot of new world locations use old world place names. Santo Domingo is a city of the Dominican Republic. Night City is essentially Los Angeles. Given its geographical location and climate, NC is going to have some Caribbean place names too.

Seems quite obvious.

It's possible, and very cool if so, but apparently Arroyo Grande is really a place in California as well: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arroyo_Grande,_California

"Arroyo" means "creek" in Spanish. Plenty of real and fictional places with Spanish heritage have it in their name.