Niño (name)

Niño (Spanish for boy) is a given name, nickname and surname of Spanish origin. The appearance of the surname dates back to medieval Spain, where several prestigious families had the surname, such as the Niño de Guevara family of Bishops from Andalusia, and the Niño brothers, who were involved in the Discovery of the Americas. Because of the popularity of the surname at the time of the colonization, it is now most common in countries such as Colombia, Mexico and Venezuela, while relatively rare in Spain.^[1]

The term Niño has also been used as a nickname since at least the 13th century, when the illegitimate son of King Alfonso X was known as "El Niño". The nickname has been especially popular among flamenco singers, such as el Niño de Cabra (1890s), el Niño del Carmen (1900s), el Niño Escacena (1900s), el Niño Genil (1920s), el Niño Ricardo (1930s), el Niño Pérez (1930s), el Niño de Almadén (1950s), el Niño de Málaga (1950s), el Niño de Utrera (1950s), el Niño de Murcia (1950s), el Niño Josele (2000s) and Niño de Elche (2010s).^[2][3] A related word and nickname is nene, by which several people are known, such as Argentine footballer Juan Héctor Guidi, Cuban singer Pedro Lugo and Moroccan drug trafficker Mohamed Taieb Ahmed. The nickname nano (e.g. singer Román León, F1 driver Fernando Alonso) is less common.