What is the male celebrant of a quinceañera traditionally called?

The male celebrant of a quinceañera is traditionally called a quinceañero.

The term is the masculine counterpart of quinceañera. Both words derive from the Spanish quince, meaning fifteen, and identify a young person connected with a fifteenth-birthday celebration.

Quinceañera is much more common in everyday English because the tradition has historically centered on a girl’s transition at age fifteen. However, quinceañero is used for a boy who celebrates a comparable fifteenth birthday, especially in Spanish-speaking contexts.

Quinceañero should not be confused with chambelán. A chambelán is a male member of the celebrant’s court or group of attendants, while the quinceañero is the person whose fifteenth birthday is being marked. That distinction makes the two terms different even when both appear in the same event.