What is the common English name for a quinceañera’s traditional coming-of-age milestone?

The common English description of a quinceañera’s coming-of-age milestone is a rite of passage.

A rite of passage is a ceremony or set of customs marking a significant transition in a person’s life. Quinceañeras are commonly described this way because they publicly recognize a girl’s transition from childhood toward young womanhood at age fifteen.

The phrase does not mean that every quinceañera follows one fixed script. Families may combine religious observances, a banquet, music, speeches, family blessings, photographs, and symbolic presentations. Some celebrations are explicitly Catholic, while others are secular or adapted to another faith or family tradition.

Calling the event a rite of passage also distinguishes it from a legal declaration of adulthood. The cultural meaning is powerful, but laws about age, responsibility, and adulthood remain different from community ceremony and family symbolism.