Central American, Caribbean Spanish-speaking countries, and Spain it is known by the Mexican Spanish name aguacate, while South American Spanish-speaking countries Argentina, Chile, Perú and Uruguay use a Quechua-derived word, palta. In Portuguese, it is abacate. The Nahuatl ahuacatl can be compounded with other words, as in ahuacamolli, meaning avocado soup or sauce, from which the Spanish word [[guacamole]] derives.

In Trinidad and Tobago, it is known