What Spanish term can describe a boy celebrating a traditional fifteenth-birthday milestone?

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A boy celebrating a traditional fifteenth-birthday milestone can be called a quinceañero.

Quinceañero is the masculine counterpart to quinceañera. The term is used for a boy or young man whose fifteenth birthday is marked with a comparable coming-of-age celebration. Usage is not identical everywhere: in many communities, quinceañera remains the much more familiar name for the tradition, while celebrations for boys may be called quinceañeros, quince años, or described in other local ways.

The masculine term is also easy to confuse with chambelán. A chambelán is normally a male member or escort in the celebrant’s court, not the celebrant himself. Likewise, quinceañera can refer to the female honoree or the event. These distinctions matter because Spanish gendered nouns can identify different roles within the same celebration. Families adapt the ceremony according to local custom, faith, budget, and the preferences of the young person being honored.

Source: Wikipedia · fact-checked Oct. 2026

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