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.
[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.
Although rarely used as a forename in Spain or Latin America, Niño is a common name in the Philippines.