Does “Latino” refer to Americans of Latin American descent, or to Latin Americans? Is it both? If it is, which one is used more?

18 comments

1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Latino_(demonym)

2. As a Latino, it’s whomever in either group wants to identify as such. I’d say Latinos are anyone of Latin American descent, whether citizen or not. I do include Brazil. They’re Latino, but wouldn’t be Hispanic since they speak Portuguese.

3. It should only refer to people from actual European Latin countries but unfortunately has been used to erase whole peoples with histories of their own that existed thousands of years before those people actually stumbled upon the shores of the western hemisphere. Really, in that context it’s nothing but a tool of genocide.

4. I call anyone who looks like a Latino a Latino

5. It is *applied* to pretty much anyone whose ancestry seems to be from south of the US – Mexico border.

6. I Consider myself Hispanic not Latino. My family is from the southwest USA . I just look white American with dark hair . Well technically that’s like my life. I naturally can blend in with both crowds depending on the situation . I’ve been called Hispanic rarely or white. I never been called Latino . Had people actually get upset and tell me I’m not Hispanic

7. Both. I’m American of Mexican and Guatemalan descent. I identify as American of Latino descent/ Latino American.

8. [deleted]

9. The Hispanic vs Latino thing is funny

   Not all Hispanics are Latino, nor are all Latinos Hispanic

   But all Latin language speaking Latin Americans are Latinos

   and all Spanish speaking Latinos are Hispanic

10. I’d say both. Someone whose great-grandparents immigrated from El Salvador to the US is Latino because their lineage is of Latin descent, and someone who just moved last week to the US from Colombia or Peru is also Latino. I think it’s a reference to ethnicity, not a statement of nationality.

11. Both. The term might be more relevant for people of Latin American descent, since the label distinguishes them as belonging to a specific group. Whereas if you are Latin American in Latin America, a majority of the people around you are Latino.

12. In the US, we have a mix of Latin Americans (1st generation immigrants) and Americans of Latin American descent (2+ generation immigrants). We call them all Latinos, whether they were born here / grew up here or not.

    This is because people in the US typically prioritize race and culture over citizenship as identifiers.

13. I do not consider myself latino or Latin American at all, but I would like to add an argument that “Latin America” should extend into the American southwest in historically Spanish speaking areas, and French areas for that matter. And if you’re really being a purist, I would argue to include French Canada as well.

    To answer your question, I’d say the answer is both.

14. Maybe you should ask this in the LatinoAmerica sub instead of the American sub? How is a person born in the United States and therefore an American be considered Latinamerican or Latino? They are American of Latinamerican descent

15. People whose ethnic background is from Latin America.

16. I’m Venezuelan, and i identify as Hispanic mostly when people ask, but i also say i’m latin american sometimes, whenever i feel like saying it. i don’t say i’m latino/a, even tho (for me personally) all three terms are interchangeable.

17. As a Latino it’s definitely both, I wouldn’t say in its most common usage that it specifies nationality but here moreso something along the lines of race, of which would be Latino

18. Both, but it depends on the person and the situation. Usually, the word, “Latinos” refer to people from Latin American countries. Americans will typically be called by their nation of origin (for example Mexican-American).

    However, there are some situations where it’s necessary to use the word “Latino” for Americans. If you know the person is of Latin American origin but you don’t know which particular nation, then you could use the word Latino. If a person has 2 or more nations of origin (like a mom from Mexico and a dad from Honduras) then they may prefer Latino.

    The word “Hispanic” is more controversial because there is some debate over what it actually means. To some it means a person descended from Spain and to others it means a person who speaks Spanish natively. The problem is that not everyone who speaks Spanish as a first language is descended from Spain. There are many Latinos (aka Latin Americans) of African origin and Native American origin, with little or no European ancestry and some of them may find offense with a person calling them “Hispanic.”