The Spanish word “quinceañera” names both the girl celebrating her fifteenth birthday and, commonly, the celebration itself. It comes from quince, meaning fifteen, with a feminine ending referring to a person.
In English-language use, the term is often written without the accent as quinceanera, but quinceañera is the standard Spanish spelling. The ñ is pronounced differently from a plain n, and preserving it helps distinguish the Spanish word’s original form.
The word is sometimes confused with quince, the Spanish word for fifteen, or with quince años, which literally means fifteen years. Quinceañera has a more specific cultural meaning: it refers to the celebrant or the formal rite and party surrounding her fifteenth birthday. Regional vocabulary can vary, particularly for attendants and religious customs.