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What is the difference between Chiuahua and Chiuahueño?? They both are/mean Chiuahua, the dog breed. Are there just other ways to say it??

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This wikipedia page claims that the chihuahua breed originated in Mexico. Elsewhere from Mexico the breed received the name of the state where this breed was found (Chiuahua, which means "arid and dusty land" in the language of the tarahumaras or rarámuris, a tribe native from Mexico) and it seems that in Mexico only the breed is also know as "chihuahueño".

That page doesn't have an English translation, but this other explains more or less the same origin for the breed (except for the name chihuahueño).

So it seems that in Mexico only, chihuahueño refers to the name of the breed (and probably they use Chihuahua only to name the state). In Spain we use "chihuahua" and not "chihuahueño". I don't know if there are any other countries in latin america which may also favor "chihuahueño" over "chihuahua" to refer to the dog breed.

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    Thank you very much for this very complete answer. If you will permit me, I would beg to advise you that to ignore in English does not mean not to know or to be ignorant of, but rather it has the meaning no hacer caso de, desatender, pasar por alto. Interestingly, though, ignorant in English does mean pretty much ignorante in Spanish.
    – Animadversor
    Mar 18, 2015 at 23:20
  • @Animadversor, thanks to you for the correction. That was helpful.
    – Diego
    Mar 19, 2015 at 0:20
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    I'm glad, Sir, to have been able to be of service while at the same time scratching my didactic itch.
    – Animadversor
    Mar 19, 2015 at 0:24
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Having lived in Chihuahua, México for a time (20+ years ago), I observed the following...

Chihuahua - the name of the state

Chihuahuense - a person from the state of Chihuahua

Chihuahueño - the dog breed

Using chihuahueño to refer to a person was always either a joke or an insult.

As always, it's dangerous to assume that vocabulary used in one place can be generalized to all Spanish speakers. At least, several others from other parts of México with whom I worked used this vocabulary to make the distinction between the place, the person, and the perro.

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