Editing Name of the Spanish language (section)

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{{Spanish language}}
[[File:Castellano-Espanol.png|280px|thumb|right|Geographic distribution of the preferential use of the terms {{lang|es|castellano}} (in red) and {{lang|es|español}} (in blue).{{citation needed|date=January 2021}}]]
The [[Spanish language]] has two names: {{Lang|es|'''español'''}} ({{Langx|en|'''Spanish'''}}) and {{Lang|es|'''castellano'''}} ({{Langx|en|'''Castilian'''}}). Spanish speakers from different countries or backgrounds can show a preference for one term or the other, or use them indiscriminately, but political issues or common usage might lead speakers to prefer one term over the other. This article identifies the differences between those terms, the countries or backgrounds that show a preference for one or the other, and the implications the choice of words might have for a native Spanish speaker.

Today, the national language of Spain – the official Spanish language – is the Castilian language (as opposed to the regional languages of Spain, such as [[Galician language|Galician]], [[Catalan language|Catalan]], [[Asturleonese language|Asturleonese]], and [[Basque language|Basque]]). As such both names, ''español'' and ''castellano'', have distinct and independent meanings that may be required for clarity in some specific contexts.
Generally speaking, though, both terms can be used to refer to the (national) Spanish language as a whole, with a preference for one over the other that depends on the context or the speaker's origin. ''Castellano'' (as well as ''Castilian'' in English) has another, more restricted, meaning, relating either to the [[Old Spanish language|old Romance language]] spoken in the [[Kingdom of Castile]] in the [[Middle Ages]], predecessor of the modern Spanish language, or to the variety of Spanish nowadays spoken in the historical region of [[Castile (historical region)|Castile]], in central [[Spain]].