Multiracial Americans
A typical Latino American family may have members with a wide range of racial phenotypes, meaning a Hispanic couple may have children who look white and African and/or Native American and/or Asian. Latino Americans have several self-identifications; most Latinos identify as white in terms of race, while others identify as black and/or Native American and/or Asian. Latinos who do not want to identify as one of those identify simply as Hispanic and/or "some other race" as their race.
Latino
Though often used interchangeably in American English, "Hispanic" and "Latino" are not identical terms, and in certain contexts the choice between them can be significant. "Hispanic", from the Latin word for "Spain," has the broader reference, potentially encompassing all Spanish-speaking peoples in both hemispheres and emphasizing the common denominator of language among communities that sometimes have little else in common. "Latino"—which in Spanish means "Latin" but which as an English word is probably a shortening of the Spanish word "latinoamericano"—refers more exclusively to persons or communities of Latin American origin. Of the two, only "Hispanic" can be used in referring to Spain and its history and culture; a native of Spain residing in the United States is a "Hispanic", not a "Latino", and one cannot substitute "Latino" in the phrase "the Hispanic influence on native Mexican cultures" without garbling the meaning. In practice, however, this distinction is of little significance when referring to residents of the United States, most of whom are of Latin American origin and can theoretically be called by either word.
The "AP Stylebook" also distinguishes between the terms Hispanic and Latino. The Stylebook limits the term "Hispanic" to persons "from – or whose ancestors were from – a Spanish-speaking land or culture". It provides a more expansive definition, however, of the term "Latino". The Stylebook definition of Latino includes not only persons of Spanish-speaking ancestry, but also more generally includes persons "from – or whose ancestors were from – . . . Latin America". The Stylebook specifically lists "Brazilian" as an example of a group which can be considered Latino.