The SHH is an honor society for high school students enrolled in Spanish and/or Portuguese, sponsored by the American Association of Teachers of Spanish and Portuguese (AATSP). The SHH was formally organized as the Spanish National Honor Society in 1953. The name was changed to Sociedad Honoraria Hispánica in 1959. At present there are over 3,500 national and international chapters of the SHH.

The mission of the Sociedad Honoraria Hispánica is to recognize high school achievement in Spanish and to promote interest in Hispanic studies.Any secondary school student who has maintained an 90% or above grade average in the study of Spanish for a minimum of three semesters and is in the 10th grade or higher is eligible to be a member of the SHH. Students who test out of Spanish courses through the STAMP test are also eligible to be members.