Chapo is the Spanish nickname meaning "shorty," from chaparro, referring to someone short or stocky. It's most widely known internationally as the nickname of the Mexican drug lord Joaquín "El Chapo" Guzmán. As a pet name, it's overwhelmingly chosen as a size-based descriptor, with a secondary layer of cultural reference that owners either intend or encounter after the fact.
The Nickname Origin
In Mexican Spanish, chapo is a genuine and widely used term for someone of short stature: not inherently pejorative, just descriptive. Before the criminal associations became dominant, it was an ordinary nickname. Owners choosing Chapo for a small, compact dog (a Chihuahua, a dachshund, or a low-riding mixed breed) are usually working from the size-descriptor meaning. The name fits a dog who is emphatically small but acts like the largest animal in any room.
The Pop Culture Complication
Guzmán's extradition and trial in the late 2010s made El Chapo one of the most recognizable names in international news, which means the criminal association is genuinely inescapable in contemporary usage. Some owners choose the name fully aware of this layer; others arrive at it through the Spanish descriptor route. Either way, anyone who meets the dog will connect the dots.
The Honest Assessment
Chapo works as a pet name for small, bold dogs where the size-based irony or directness is the point. The cultural baggage is real and worth acknowledging. If you want the same size-descriptor energy without the association, Shorty or Peanut cover the same ground.