Chicano or Chicana (also spelled Xicano or Xicana), is a chosen identity of some Mexican Americans in the United States. The term Chicano is sometimes used interchangeably with Mexican[-]American. Both names are chosen identities within the Mexican-American community in the United States. However, these terms have a wide range of meanings in various parts of the Southwest. The term became widely used during the Chicano Movement by Mexican Americans to express pride in a shared cultural, ethnic and community identity. The term Chicano had negative connotations before the Chicano Movement, and still is viewed negatively by more conservative members of this community, but it over time gained more acceptance as an identity of pride within the Mexican-American community in the United States. Still, many American-born Mexicans view the term to be distracting, as it often represents a refusal to identify with either Mexican or American identities, while Mexicans from Mexico usually aren't familiar with or do not identify with the term. The pro-indigenous/Mestizo nature of Chicano nationalism is cemented in the nature of Mexican national identity, in which the culture is heavily syncretic between indigenous and Spanish cultures, and where 60% of the population is Mestizo, and another 30% are indigenous, with the remaining 10% being of European heritage and others racial/ethnic groups. Ultimately it was the experience of Mexican Americans in the United States which culminated in the creation of a Chicano identity.

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