The Spanish term for the fifteen-year-old girl being celebrated is quinceañera.
In common usage, quinceañera can refer both to the young woman and to the celebration held for her fifteenth birthday. The double meaning is familiar in Spanish and in English communities that use the Spanish term for the event.
The word is feminine because it identifies a girl or young woman. The related masculine form, quinceañero, may be used for a boy’s fifteenth-birthday celebration in some communities, although such celebrations are less standardized and less widely recognized under that name.
Quinceañera should not be confused with dama, which generally means a female attendant, or madrina, which means godmother or female sponsor. Those terms describe other participants rather than the central celebrant.