The Spanish term for the fifteen-year-old girl honored by a traditional quinceañera is quinceañera.
The word is the feminine form associated with quince años, meaning “fifteen years.” In common English usage, quinceañera can refer both to the celebrant and to the celebration held in her honor. Context usually makes the meaning clear.
The masculine counterpart is quinceañero, used for a boy’s fifteenth-birthday celebration in communities that follow that adaptation. The term cumpleañera is broader: it means a female birthday celebrant and does not specifically identify a fifteenth-birthday tradition.
Spelling matters because the ñ is a distinct Spanish letter. “Quinceanera” is a common English keyboard rendering, but “quinceañera” is the standard Spanish spelling. The event is practiced across many Latin American communities and among families in the diaspora, with customs differing by region.