Chichimeca is the name that the Nahua peoples of Mexico generically apply to a wide range of semi-nomadic peoples who inhabit the north of modern-day Mexico and southwestern United States, and carry the same sense as the European term "barbarian".

The name is adopted with a pejorative tone by the Spaniards when referring especially to the semi-nomadic hunter-gatherer peoples of northern Mexico.

In modern times only one ethnic group is customarily referred to as Chichimecs, namely the Chichimeca Jonaz, although lately this usage is being changed for simply "Jonáz" or their own name for themselves "Úza".