Before speaking about the Che Guevara, let's find out what does the famous word "Che" means. In fact, in regular language "Che" just mean "Argentinean". So "Che" Guevara would mean only "The Argentinean Guevara"....

 

However, the word "Che" itself is a little more mysterious. I suspect that it got its roots in Mapuche language, where "Che" mean "man"...

 

I translate this article from Wiki Spanish to show you these and other theories about the word "Che". I hope you enjoy it...

 

 

“Che” is a Spanish interjection used commonly in Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay, some parts of Brazil, Bolivia, and also in Valencia, Spain (equivalent to the Valencian xe, or Ebro-delta Catalan xa: the Valencia CF soccer team is known as "Els Xes" or "the Xe team".). It is an exclamation, often used to get attention or express surprise, and so it corresponds in some ways to exclamations such as "hey!", "eh!" and "wow!". It is also used in a vocative sense as though it meant "friend", and thus corresponds in some ways to expressions such as "mate", "pal", "man", or "dude" that can be found in the speech of various English speakers. Like these words, it may be used both before and after a phrase: "Man, this is some good beer", or, "Let's go get a beer, man." ("Xe, está buena la cerveza." or "Vamos a buscar unas cervezas, xe.")

 

The word has also spread to southern parts of Portuguese-speaking Brazil (usually written as "Tchê").

 

In other Latin American countries, the term “Che” is used to refer to someone from Argentina. For example, Ernesto "Che" Guevara earned his nickname from his frequent use of this expression, which, particularly to his Cuban comrades, was a curious feature of his speech. Guevara is popularly known simply as “el Che” in Latin American countries. This sort of appellation based on utterance is common when persons from different cultures interact (see, for example, les goddams).

 

Several tango song names start with the word che (e.g. “Che”, bandoneón and “Che”, papusa, oí). Also, “Cheeee!” was a catchphrase used by the late José Marrone when impersonating the clown Pepitito.

 

The origin of this word is unclear. It may have derived from several native South American languages: in Guarani language “che” means simply "I" or "my", in Tehuelche and Puelche (Pampa) languages che means "man", and in Mapudungun language (Mapuche) it means "people". Others, however, argue that the word “che” is derived from the archaic Spanish word “ce”, used to call someone's attention. Another theory connects it with the Italian greeting “Ciao” introduced to South America by Italian immigrants.