Quinceañera is the Spanish word for the girl or young woman celebrating her fifteenth birthday.
In English, the word is also commonly used for the celebration itself. This dual use can cause confusion: a sentence may refer to the quinceañera as a person, while another may describe the party as a quinceañera.
The word is related to quince, the Spanish number 15, and to the feminine ending used for the celebrant. The Spanish ñ and accent mark are part of the standard spelling, although English-language writing sometimes drops one or both marks.
A madrina is a godmother or sponsor, a dama is traditionally a female attendant, and a chambelana is traditionally a female form related to chambelán, a male escort. Those terms describe other participants, not the central celebrant.