What is the real name of the woman Don Quixote calls Dulcinea?

The real woman Don Quixote calls Dulcinea is Aldonza Lorenzo. She is a peasant woman from El Toboso whom Don Quixote transforms, in his imagination, into an idealized lady.

Don Quixote believes that every knight-errant must serve a lady, so he chooses Aldonza as the focus of his devotion. He gives her the grander name Dulcinea del Toboso, linking her to the village of El Toboso in La Mancha. The name Dulcinea is related to the Spanish word dulce, meaning sweet, and has an intentionally elegant, romantic sound.

The contrast between Aldonza and Dulcinea is central to Cervantes’s humor. Don Quixote imagines impossible beauty, noble birth, and perfection, while the ordinary woman behind the fantasy is largely unaware of the role he has assigned her. Dulcinea is famously unseen in the novel, appearing primarily through Don Quixote’s descriptions and the reactions of other characters.

Readers sometimes confuse her with characters from adaptations, especially Man of La Mancha, but Aldonza Lorenzo is the name associated with Cervantes’s original novel.