Spanish Demonyms

Quick Answer

Learn about Spanish demónimos(demonyms) in this article.

Questions This Article Answers

What are demónimos?

What are gentilicios?

What does capitalino mean?

What do you call someone from Bogotá?

What do you call someone from Buenos Aires?

What do you call someone from San José?

What do you call someone from Caracas?

What do you call someone from Ciudad de México?

Globe South America

Demonyms

Demónimos are words used to indicate place of origin. Gentilicios(demonyms), as they are also known, can refer to países(countries), estados(states), provincias(provinces), ciudades(cities), and regiones(regions).

Demónimos can be nouns or adjectives.

un bogotano(a man from Bogota) (a person from Bogota)
una botogana(a woman from Bogota)
un escritor bogotano(a writer from Bogota)

In this article, we're going to learn the demónimos of the capitales(capitals) of Spanish-speaking countries.

Nationalities

Learn about nationalities in Spanish in the following article:

Nationalities in Spanish

Capitals and Demonyms

The following list shows the demonyms of the capitals of Spanish-speaking countries.

Capitalino

In many countries, a person from the capital city can also be referred to as capitalino/ capitalina(from the capital).

examples
Muchos capitalinos se han mudado a esta provincia. Many people from the capital have moved to this province.

examples

Muchos capitalinos se han mudado a esta provincia.

Many people from the capital have moved to this province.

Country	Capital	Demonym
Argentina(Argentina)	Buenos Aires(Buenos Aires)	porteño, porteña(from Buenos Aires)
Bolivia(Bolivia)	Sucre(Sucre)	sucrense(from Sucre)
Chile(Chile)	Santiago(Santiago)	santiaguino, santiaguina(from Santiago)
Colombia(Colombia)	Bogotá(Bogota)	bogotano, bogotana(from Bogota)
Costa Rica(Costa Rica)	San José(San Jose)	josefino, josefina(from San Jose)
Cuba(Cuba)	La Habana(Havana)	habanero, habanera(from Havana)
Ecuador(Ecuador)	Quito(Quito)	quiteño, quiteña(from Quito)
El Salvador(El Salvador)	San Salvador(San Salvador)	sansalvadoreño, sansalvadoreña(from San Salvador)
España(Spain)	Madrid(Madrid)	madrileño, madrileña(from Madrid)
Filipinas(Philipines)	Manila(Manila)	manilense(from Manila)
Guatemala(Guatemala)	Ciudad de Guatemala(Guatemala City)	guatemalteco, guatemalteca(from Guatemala City)
Guinea Ecuatorial(Equatorial Guinea)	Malabo(Malabo)	malabeño, malabeña(from Malabo)
Honduras(Honduras)	Tegucigalpa(Tegucigalpa)	tegucigalpense(from Tegucigalpa)
México(Mexico)	Ciudad de México(Mexico City)	mexicano, mexicana(from Mexico City)
Nicaragua(Nicaragua)	Managua(Managua)	managüense(from Managua)
Panamá(Panama)	Ciudad de Panamá(Panama City)	panameño, panameña(from Panama City)
Paraguay(Paraguay)	Asunción(Asuncion)	asunceno, asuncena(from Asuncion)
Perú(Peru)	Lima(Lima)	limeño, limeña(from Lima)
República Dominicana(Dominican Republic)	Santo Domingo(Santo Domingo)	capitaleño, capitaleña(from Santo Domingo)
Uruguay(Uruguay)	Montevideo(Montevideo)	montevideano, montevideana(from Montevideo)
Venezuela(Venezuela)	Caracas(Caracas)	caraqueño, caraqueña(from Caracas)

examples
David casó con una porteña. David married a woman from Buenos Aires.
Tenemos muchos clientes madrileños. We have many clients from Madrid.
El cantante limeño se presentará en Bogotá la semana que viene. The singer from Lima will perform in Bogota next week.

Mexico City

There is no official demonym for people from Ciudad de México. Some of the options include defeño, mexicano, mexiqueño, and capitalino. The word chilango may be used by people from Ciudad de México themselves, but it may be considered offensive when used by others.

Spanish Demonyms of Cities in English-Speaking Countries

Here are some of the demónimos for cities in English-speaking countries.

City	Demonym
Belfast(Belfast)	belfiano, belfiana(from Belfast)
Chicago(Chicago)	chicaguense(from Chicago)
Ciudad del Cabo(Cape Town)	capense(from Cape Town)
Dallas(Dallas)	dalasita(from Dallas)
Dublín(Dublin)	dublinés(from Dublin)
Edimburgo(Edinburgh)	edimburgués, edimburguesa(from Edinburgh)
Filadelfia(Philadelphia)	filadelfiano, filadelfiana(from Philadelphia)
Londres(London)	londinense(from London)
Los Ángeles(Los Angeles)	angelino, angelina(from Los Angeles)
Mánchester(Manchester)	mancuniano, mancuniana(from Manchester)
Melbourne(Melbourne)	melburniano, melburniana(from Melbourne)
Nueva York(New York)	neoyorkino, neoyorkina(from New York)
Oxford(Oxford)	oxoniense(from Oxford)
San Antonio(San Antonio)	sanantoniano, sanantoniana(from San Antonio)
San Diego(San Diego)	sandieguino, sandieguina(from San Diego)
San Francisco(San Francisco)	sanfranciscano, sanfranciscana(from San Francisco)
Sídney(Sidney)	sidneyés, sidneyesa(from Sidney)

examples
Los londinenses están acostumbrados a este clima. People from London are used to this weather.
Es una famosa saxofonista neoyorkina. She's a famous saxophonist from New York.
Una familia angelina compró la casa. A family from Los Angeles bought the house.

Where Are You From?

There are some Spanish suffixes that are used regularly to form demonyms, for instance -ano / -ana, -eño / -eña, -és / -esa, -ense. However, it can be hard to know when to use which, and also many Spanish demonyms are irregular. If you are not sure about a demonym, you can simply use the verb ser de(to be from, to come from) followed by the name of the city.