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Pew Research Center's Hispanic Trends Project

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For this analysis we surveyed 3,030 U.S. Hispanic adults in December 2019 as part of the 2019 National Survey of Latinos. We asked survey respondents about their awareness of the term Latinx and their views of the term. The sample includes 2,094 Hispanic adults who were members of Pew Research Center's American Trends Panel (ATP), an online survey panel that is recruited through national, random sampling of residential addresses. It also includes an oversample of 936 respondents sampled from Ipsos' KnowledgePanel, another online survey panel also recruited through national, random sampling of residential addresses. For the purposes of this report, references to foreign-born Hispanics include those born in Puerto Rico. Individuals born in Puerto Rico are U.S. citizens by birth. The survey was conducted in both English and Spanish.

See the Methodology section of this report for more details.

The terms Hispanic and Latino are used interchangeably in this report.

Latinx is a term used to describe people who are of or relate to Latin American origin or descent. It is a gender-neutral or nonbinary alternative to Latino or Latina.

U.S. born refers to persons born in the United States and those born in other countries to parents at least one of whom was a U.S. citizen.

Foreign born refers to persons born outside of the United States to parents neither of whom was a U.S. citizen. The terms foreign born and immigrant are used interchangeably in this report. For the purposes of this report, foreign born also includes those born in Puerto Rico. Although individuals born in Puerto Rico are U.S. citizens by birth, they are included among the foreign born for this report because they are born into a Spanish-dominant culture and because on many points their attitudes, views and beliefs are much closer to Hispanics born abroad than to Hispanics born in the 50 states or the District of Columbia, even those who identify themselves as being of Puerto Rican origin.

Second generation refers to people born in the 50 states or the District of Columbia with at least one first-generation, or immigrant, parent.

Third and higher generation refers to people born in the 50 states or the District of Columbia with both parents born in the 50 states or the District of Columbia.

Language dominance is a composite measure based on self-described assessments of speaking and reading abilities. Spanish-dominant people are more proficient in Spanish than in English (i.e., they speak and read Spanish "very well" or "pretty well" but rate their English-speaking and reading ability lower). Bilingual refers to people who are proficient in both English and Spanish. English-dominant people are more proficient in English than in Spanish.

Pan-ethnic labels describing the U.S. population of people tracing their roots to Latin America and Spain have been introduced over the decades, rising and falling in popularity. Today, the two dominant labels in use are Hispanic and Latino, with origins in the 1970s and 1990s respectively.

More recently, a new, gender-neutral, pan-ethnic label, Latinx, has emerged as an alternative that is used by some news and entertainment outlets, corporations, local governments and universities to describe the nation's Hispanic population.

However, for the population it is meant to describe, only 23% of U.S. adults who self-identify as Hispanic or Latino have heard of the term Latinx, and just 3% say they use it to describe themselves, according to a nationally representative, bilingual survey of U.S. Hispanic adults conducted in December 2019 by Pew Research Center.

The emergence of Latinx coincides with a global movement to introduce gender-neutral nouns and pronouns into many languages whose grammar has traditionally used male or female constructions. In the United States, the first uses of Latinx appeared more than a decade ago. It was added to a widely used English dictionary in 2018, reflecting its greater use.

Yet the use of Latinx is not common practice, and the term's emergence has generated debate about its appropriateness in a gendered language like Spanish. Some critics point to its origins among U.S. English speakers, saying it ignores the Spanish language and its gendered form. Still, there are examples of the term's use in Spanish in the U.S. and abroad. Meanwhile, others see Latinx as a gender- and LGBTQ-inclusive term, reflecting a broader movement within the U.S. around gender identity.

While only about a quarter of U.S. Hispanics say they have heard the term Latinx, awareness and use vary across different subgroups. Young Hispanics, ages 18 to 29, are among the most likely to have heard of the term - 42% say they have heard of it, compared with 7% of those ages 65 or older. Hispanics with college experience are more likely to be aware of Latinx than those without college experience; about four-in-ten Hispanic college graduates (38%) say they have heard of Latinx, as do 31% of those with some college experience. By comparison, just 14% of those with a high school diploma or less are aware of the term.

In addition, the U.S. born are more likely than the foreign born to have heard the term (32% vs. 16%), and Hispanics who are predominantly English speakers or bilingual are more likely than those who mainly speak Spanish to say the same (29% for both vs. 7%).

Hispanics who identify with or lean toward the Democratic Party are more likely to have heard of Latinx than those who identify with or lean toward the Republican Party (29% vs. 16%).

Awareness of the term Latinx does not necessarily translate into use. Across many demographic subgroups, the share of Hispanics who say they use Latinx to describe their own identity is significantly lower than the share who say they have heard it. Use is among the highest for Hispanic women ages 18 to 29 - 14% say they use it, a considerably higher share than the 1% of Hispanic men in the same age group who say they use it.

[callout]

The emergence of Hispanic, Latino and Latinx

Throughout the last half-century in the U.S., different pan-ethnic terms have arisen to describe Americans who trace their roots to Latin America and Spain.

The term Hispanic was first used by the U.S. government in the 1970s after Mexican American and other Hispanic organizations lobbied the federal government to collect data on the population. Subsequently, the U.S Congress passed Public Law 94-311 in 1976, mandating the collection of information about U.S. residents of Mexican, Puerto Rican, Cuban, Central American, South American and other Spanish-speaking country origins. The law called for the U.S. Census Bureau to create a broader category that encompassed all people who identified having roots from these countries. The term Hispanic was first used in a full census in 1980.

The 1990s brought resistance to the term Hispanic, as it embraced a strong connection with Spain, and an alternative term emerged: Latino. By 1997, the U.S. Office of Management and Budget issued a directive adding the term Latino to government publications. The two terms are used interchangeably, with Latino first appearing on the U.S. census in 2000, alongside Hispanic.

More recently, Latinx has emerged as an alternative to Hispanic and Latino. Online searches for the term among the general U.S. population appeared online in the early 2000s. But the first substantial rise in searches (relative to all online searches) appeared in June 2016 following a shooting at Pulse nightclub, an LGBTQ dance club in Orlando, Florida, that was hosting its Latin Night on the date of the attack. In subsequent years, the term's use on social media by celebrities, politicians and grassroots organizations has grown. In addition, some academic centers at community colleges, public universities and Ivy League universities are replacing Latino program names that were established in previous decades with new Latinx-focused names.

In more than 15 years of polling by Pew Research Center, half of Americans who trace their roots to Spanish-speaking Latin America and Spain have consistently said they have no preference for either Hispanic or Latino as a term to describe the group. And when one term is chosen over another, the term Hispanic has been preferred to Latino. Importantly, the same surveys show, country of origin labels (such as Mexican or Cuban or Ecuadorian) are preferred to these pan-ethnic terms among the population they are meant to describe.

[/callout]

Google searches for Latinx rising in U.S., but trail far behind Latina, Latino and Hispanic

The relative popularity of Latinx in online searches in the U.S. has increased since 2016, according to a Pew Research Center analysis of Google Trends data. While its earliest Google searches extend back to the early 2000s, the highest monthly relative number of searches for Latinx occurred in June 2020, surpassing a previous peak in October 2019.

Compared with June 2020, monthly Google searches for Latinx rose substantially for the first time in June 2016, following the Pulse nightclub shooting in Orlando, Florida.

Despite its increase in popularity, Google searches for Latinx remain below those for Latina, Latino and Hispanic over the past decade. Among these terms, Latina has shown the highest popularity, though its share of searches has been falling relative to its peak in June 2014.

Should Latinx be adopted as a pan-ethnic term for U.S. Hispanics?

Among those aware of Latinx, one-in-three say it should be used to describe the nation's Hispanic or Latino population.

While some Hispanics say Latinx should be used as a pan-ethnic term, few say they prefer it over others. A majority (61%) say they prefer Hispanic to describe the Hispanic or Latino population in the U.S., and 29% say they prefer Latino. Meanwhile, just 4% say they prefer Latinx to describe the Hispanic or Latino population.

Preference for Latinx as a pan-ethnic term is higher among those who are aware of it - 10% in this group say they prefer Latinx. Yet even among those aware of Latinx, the terms Hispanic (50%) and Latino (31%) are preferred.

In their own words: What does Latinx mean to Hispanics?

When asked in an open-ended question what Latinx means in their own words, 42% of those who have heard the term describe it as a gender-neutral one. As one 21-year-old woman said, "Latinx is a more inclusive term to use for those who do not choose to identify with a certain gender. The terms Latino and Latina are very limiting for certain people."

Other responses from the open-ended question offer other descriptions of Latinx and reactions to it. For example, 12% of respondents who had heard of Latinx express disagreement or dislike of the term. Some described the term as an "anglicism" of the Spanish language, while others say the term is "not representative of the larger Latino community."

Among other responses, 12% say Latinx is a term about being Hispanic or Latino, while 9% of those aware of Latinx say it is an LGBTQ community inclusive term. And 6% of respondents who have heard of Latinx say it is a new, alternative or replacement term for Latino.

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Luis Noe-Bustamante, Lauren Mora and Mark Hugo Lopez

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About One-in-Four U.S. Hispanics Have Heard of Latinx, but Just 3% Use It

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The term Latinx has emerged in recent years as a gender-neutral alternative to the pan-ethnic terms Latino, Latina and Hispanic. However, awareness of Latinx is relatively low among the population it is meant to describe.

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Today, there is a new singular that refers to specific people, as in "My girlfriend is sick, so they're staying home." This usage, favored as a linguistic reflection of gender fluidity, strikes many, especially people of a certain age, as faintly absurd. They see it as an imposition from above, or at least from without; they regard it as a mere fashion statement. But people way below that certain age are using the new singular they quite fluently. Chances are, it will truly catch on in the language, because for those embracing it, it comes from below, and feels natural and useful in a changing America.

Ms. caught on quickly: It responded to a genuine discomfort that legions of women felt in the absence of a marriage-neutral appellation and was buoyed by Gloria Steinem when she used it as the name of her popular magazine. Womyn for woman, however, never really got anywhere: that woman could be treated as implying that a woman is a kind of man concerned few women deeply, especially since the word is not pronounced "woe-man." To change the spelling of a word so deeply ensconced was too tough a sell, and from above. Ms. felt right, from below.

Biracial was adopted quite readily about 20 years ago, and largely replaced the earlier term mixed, usually used in reference to people who are half white and half African American. This was in the wake of a general change in attitudes about multiracial heritage, and thus supported from below. Mixed had always felt a tad demeaning, implying a certain departure from normality, and had accreted an air of the "tragic mulatto" over the years. Biracial felt better-natural, the real "us"-to legions of people.
John McWhorter: The idea that whites can't refer to the N-word
ADOS, for "American descendants of slavery," is a different case. I suspect that this label-which seeks to delineate black people with a heritage in American slavery as a group with more of a claim on reparations and other resources than blacks born of immigrants from Africa and the Caribbean-will have less traction than biracial. It draws a line between "native" and "immigrant" black people that relatively few black people will sense as necessary or even comfortable. Black people in America of any extraction tend to see themselves as united by similar concerns regarding, especially, identity and discrimination. ADOS feels less imposed from below than, perhaps, from the side.

Latinx may solve a problem, but it's not a problem that people who are not academics or activists seem to find as urgent as they do. Now as always, imposing change on language is wickedly difficult from above, even change with wisdom in it.

We want to hear what you think about this article. Submit a letter to the editor or write to letters@theatlantic.com.

John McWhorter is a contributing writer at The Atlantic. He teaches linguistics at Columbia University, hosts the podcast Lexicon Valley, and is the author, most recently, of Words on the Move.

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absence of a marriage-neutral appellation

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linguistic reflection of gender fluidity

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Today, there is a new singular that refers to specific people, as in "My girlfriend is sick, so they're staying home." This usage, favored as a linguistic reflection of gender fluidity, strikes many, especially people of a certain age, as faintly absurd.

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subscribe to Code Switch podcast

subscribe to Code Switch podcast

We've been using the term "Latinx" on NPR's Code Switch podcast regularly. But new research shows it hasn't really caught on among Latino adults in the U.S.: While one in four have heard of the term, only 3% use it.

The Pew Research Center's national survey of Latinos queried more than 3,000 respondents about the term Latinx, and I spoke with their director of global migration and demography research, Mark Hugo Lopez, about their findings. Our conversation has been condensed and edited for clarity.
In Pew's latest survey of Latinx adults living in the United States, you found that only three percent self-identify as Latinx. What's being used instead?
What we found is that "Hispanic" is preferred by far. Then, Latino, and finally, as you noted, a very small share say that they prefer Latinx. But there's another important finding in the report, which is about awareness of the term. Latinx is a relatively new umbrella term on the scene. It's been around for about 20 years, but it's only recently - in the last five or six years- really begun to be used widely in the news media, in pop culture and by corporations. Universities have been using it for a while, but only about a quarter of people in this population say they've actually heard the term. So the term is relatively unknown to the population it's meant to describe.
You say it's been around for 20 years. That's longer than I thought. Where did it originate?
There's actually been Google searches all the way back to 2004, the beginning of Google Trends' search data. However, in the '90s, there were a lot of changes at universities. For example - Chicano studies programs were renamed Chicana/o studies, to better represent the experiences of both men and women, to be gender inclusive.

As people were searching for a way to be inclusive, Latinx emerged sometime in the late' 90s. That's the earliest reference that I found as we were doing this study. But it did start to rise in use, especially after the Pulse nightclub shooting. Latinx is a term that is gender inclusive and inclusive of LGBT adults. That's where you started to see it in headlines and in news coverage. And that may have led to more Google searches. There have been other events, like when Elizabeth Warren used it. But we saw the highest level of searches in June of 2020, more than we've ever seen relative to the past, so we're actually at a high point right now. But just because there are more Google searches, that doesn't mean that's the term people want to use to describe themselves.
So, who are the 3% your survey says self-identify as Latinx?
It is young people, people ages 18 to 29 who are most likely to be aware of the term. Forty-two percent of them, for example, say that they've heard the term Latinx. Interestingly, only seven percent of that group actually use the term to describe themselves. Another group that uses it more than others are college-educated people. U.S.-born English speakers are also more likely to use it.

And interestingly, the one group that uses it the most is young Hispanic women ages 18 to 29. About 14 percent of Hispanic women say that they use the term to describe themselves. That's almost one in seven people, and that's one of the highest shares of use that we see among the data that we collected.
We've done stories on the Code Switch podcast about the birth of the pan-ethnic label to refer to people in the U.S. In your research over the last two decades, specifically on this issue, do you feel like the adoption of pan-ethnic labels is becoming more popular? who trace their roots to Latin America. And we know how hard-won those labels were, whether it's Hispanic or Latino. But, based on your research, people would still rather identify based on country of origin, not based on these broad umbrella terms.
That's right. We found over the years, over 15 years of surveys, that when it comes to the labels that people want to use to describe themselves, more often than not, they prefer their country of origin. That's true particularly of immigrants, but it's also true even of U.S.-born Hispanics or Latinos who are the children of U.S.-born parents. Into the third generation, oftentimes the most common term used references the country of origin, like Mexican, Dominican, Cuban or Puerto Rican. And that's something that's been pretty strong over the years.

That's a really great question, because there are a number of demographic trends underway that are impacting the way in which this population that we're talking about sees itself. About a quarter of all newlyweds who are Latino have a spouse who's non-Latino. And that's been true for about 30 years. But, an inflow of new immigrants during the 1980s, '90s and into the 2000s softened the impact of that of intermarriage in terms of identity. But now it's US births that are the biggest source of growth of the Latino population.
What pan-ethnic label do you use? I heard you say Hispanic and Latino a lot.
What does this mean in terms of self-identification? You'll find that, for example, among immigrants, nearly 90% will say they're Hispanic/Latino. Among U.S.-born children of immigrant parents of this heritage, you'll also find about 90%will self-identify as Hispanic/Latino. But by the third generation that falls to about 75%. And then by the fourth generation, only half of them self-identify as Hispanic/Latino.

So what happens to the identity and self-identifying with this group over the course of several decades with high rates of intermarriage and without a new inflow of immigrants? What would that mean for this population in terms of how they identify?

The Pew Research Center uses them interchangeably in our reports, as does the U.S. Census Bureau. For me personally, it varies depending on where I'm at, because it does matter who asks. For example, I might say I'm Hispanic in a certain part of the country. I'm here in Southern California right now, here I tend to use Chicano, because my dad had been in the Chicano movement in the '60s and '70s locally, and so it was important to identify as such. And when I travel abroad, for example, I might actually say that I'm American because most people in Europe, for example, may not be aware of the distinctions between Hispanic, Latino, etc. And if I am in other parts of the country, I might use Latino. It depends how I feel that day. I think that's really important here, what people use can change depending on the circumstances, who's asking and how and where they are.

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'Hispanic,' 'Latino,' Or 'Latinx'? Survey Says ...

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subscribe to Code Switch podcast subscribe to Code Switch podcast We've been using the term "Latinx" on NPR's Code Switch podcast regularly. But new research shows it hasn't really caught on among Latino adults in the U.S.: While one in four have heard of the term, only 3% use it.

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Latinx: The Ungendering of the Spanish Language

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The word Latinx has gained popularity as some people try to change the Spanish language to make it more inclusive.

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This week in El Espace: gender-bending, big news for bookworms and more.

At the 11th Annual Trans Day of Action, in 2015, transgender and gender-nonconforming people rallied with allies to fight discrimination. Credit... Joana Toro/Redux

El Espace is a column dedicated to news and culture relevant to Latinx communities. Expect politics, arts, analysis, personal essays and more. ¿Lo mejor? It'll be in Spanish and English, so you can forward it to your tía, your primo Lalo or anyone else (read: everyone).

The paradox of working in media is that even as your mind expands, your world also shrinks a bit. Because of my job, I read a lot of news, then go on Twitter to read people's hot takes, then listen to podcasts, you know, just to round out the picture. It's extra, for sure. But while there's no question that my understanding of topics like foreign relations, economics and the president's taxes, to name a few, has gone from zero to at least 80 in the last few years, the overexposure has also distorted my perception about what "everyone" knows.

Fortunately our readers keep me accountable. In my last column, for example, I used the word "Latinx" as a broader term for the Latino community, to some people's perplexity.

Image

Taking photos at the 11th Annual Trans Day of Action in New York. Credit... Joana Toro/Redux

In part, it's a linguistic issue: Latinx just doesn't translate to Spanish, some argued. A commenter from Ohio wrote that, if you're a Spanish speaker, "the term Latinx reads like a thousand nails in a thousand blackboards." Some readers in Latin America said it was an Anglicization that wasn't relevant in their home countries. Another implied that the term is elitist, writing that the word Latinx "ostracizes all the speakers of Spanish who don't have wealth or time to pontificate the 'oppression' of a language which at its very root genders everything." In a very official poll on my personal Facebook page, some friends and family said that they'd never even heard of it.

So, should it be used at all?

Kim Potowski, a professor at the University of Illinois who specializes in Spanish linguistics, tried to employ inclusive language in a forthcoming Spanish grammar book, but replacing the masculine "O" throughout overwhelmed her and her co-writer, Naomi L. Shin. "It came to a point where we said, 'You know what, we're not ready,'" she said. Maybe in the fourth or fifth edition of the book, she added, "we will have those X's in there."

"There is absolutely no consensus among linguists," said Dr. Potowski.

Another scholar, Lourdes Torres, a professor of Latino studies at DePaul University in Chicago, argues that the word Latinx undermines hard-fought feminist battles. "In its attempt to be gender-inclusive," she said, "one can argue that it's gender-erasing of women who have fought for a long time to not just have Latino, but to have Latino/Latina, to make sure women are represented."

Laura Leon, far right, encouraging marchers in Jackson Heights. Credit... Joana Toro/Redux

"As social factors change, sometimes the language has to change," said Dr. Torres. "The people who use the language are the ones who determine what it is." She and Dr. Potowski both gave words like "presidenta" or "jefa" as examples; neither existed until women entered the work force and took on those roles.

Ed Morales, a Columbia University professor who wrote "Latinx: The New Force in American Politics and Culture," agrees. In a recent conversation he said that "the X, which is so strange and is not Spanish, sort of marks this new hybrid idea." The title of his book, similarly, was meant to be forward-looking. "I thought it was a futurist term," he said, "imagining a future of more inclusion for people that don't conform to the various kinds of rigid identities that exist in the United States."

Still, the arbiter of Spanish is the Real Academia Española. That entity decides which words make it into the dictionary, and they're not big fans of Spanglish or Spanish words developed in the United States. In 2012, they added a definition for "estadounidismo," which translates to Americanism. At first, Dr. Torres said, the word was categorized as a "deformation of Spanish." Linguists had to push for them to change the official entry.

Dialectical hierarchy is nothing new. Dominicans and Puerto Ricans, for instance, are criticized for dropping word endings or using inventive slang. It's significant that the Real Academia recognized American Spanish in its pages, but why is it widely perceived as being less valid than the Spanish dialects spoken in other countries?

Many young, American Latinos believe that Spain's official ruling on language erases our African and indigenous roots in favor of European values. Some have argued that Latinx is partly a nod to the gender fluidity that existed among Natives before colonization.

Spanish is the second most spoken language in the United States, and many Hispanic adults feel that it is important for their succeeding generations to keep the language alive in this country. Inevitably, though, new words that meld Spanish and English will be introduced.

Both Dr. Morales and Dr. Torres said feminist and queer circles in Latin America are experimenting with their own terms. "We're not creating this change in Latin America," Dr. Torres said. "They recognize that their language, like all languages, is sexist. All languages are sexist because we live under the patriarchy everywhere."

The value of the X is that it "provokes conversation about who we're including and who we're not including in our communities," she said. But that doesn't mean everybody has to use it.

"If you talk to my dad or my tía, that's just another silly academic or political thing," Dr. Torres said. "It's definitely of a certain world."

Still, she said, even if the terms are not always understood, it's important to be "inclusive of all those identities that have had less visibility in our conversations, in our books, in our movies." If we can, she said, "it would be a really powerful thing."
Tweet me your thoughts about the word Latinx: @bycdl FIRST THINGS FIRST .
Here are more stories to read this week.

Representative-elect Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez arriving in Washington for congressional orientation. Credit... Pablo Martinez Monsivais/Associated Press

ALMOST DONE WITH THE LATINX TALK, PROMISE
Here's our review of Dr. Morales's "Latinx."

And on the topic of gender fluidity: Jenna Wortham explored the ways nonbinary people are using Instagram to reflect their identities and the (male) writer Kalle Oskari Mattila offered a strong endorsement of women's clothing.
YIKES
BuzzFeed News did some excellent reporting on the backlash in Mexico to the Central American immigrants making their way through the country. "These people are a Cancer that signals the end of Mexico," read one message in a private WhatsApp group.
READ THEIR BOOKS
It was a big night for Latinas at this year's National Book Awards. The Dominican poet Elizabeth Acevedo won in the category of Young People's Literature; Sigrid Nunez won the award for fiction; and Isabel Allende was given a lifetime achievement award. I was cheering from the bleachers.

Elizabeth Acevedo accepts the National Book Award for Young People''s Literature. Credit... Bryan Thomas for The New York Times

SEXISM IS STRESSFUL
Here's why women are twice as likely to suffer from severe stress and anxiety as men.

Nike dropped their Dominican-inspired "De Lo Mio" Air Force 1s last week, and I'm still recovering. The sneaker (which is already sold out, waaaah) is fire, as are the pictures from their ad campaign, taken by six Dominican photographers. Scroll and get your life. (And we'll all hold out hope that Nike will re-up on the shoes).

Do you have suggestions for El Espace? Want to receive it as a newsletter? Let me know: elespace@nytimes.com

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This week in El Espace: gender-bending, big news for bookworms and more. El Espace is a column dedicated to news and culture relevant to Latinx communities. Expect politics, arts, analysis, personal essays and more. ¿Lo mejor? It'll be in Spanish and English, so you can forward it to your tía, your primo Lalo or anyone else (read: everyone).

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of, relating to, or marked by Latin American heritage : latine—used as a gender-neutral alternative to Latina or Latino… See the full definition

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The word Latinx is contentious. While created as a gender-neutral alternative to Latino and Latina, some believe that Latino already does an effective job at grouping a large number of men and women with Latin American origins. But others believe the term is flawed. For example, if one man joins a crowd made up entirely of women, they collectively become Latinos, which shows an unfair bias toward the male gender. And though [email protected] is a workaround to that issue, the term defines only masculine and feminine identities, excluding those that identify as agender, gender fluid, gender non-conforming, gender questioning, nonbinary, and genderqueer. As Latinx gains momentum, some reiterate that their biggest gripe with the word is pronunciation, and the second season of One Day at a Time reminded us that not everyone says the word quite the same way. (ICYMI, Elena used the word repeatedly over the season.)

In the many Latinx explainer articles published, the writer says the term is pronounced Latin-ex, with a soft T. But as Vanessa Erazo, Remezcla's film editor, tweeted, there are at least three different ways to say the term in English. The seemingly more ubiquitous Latin-ex, Luh-TEEN-ex (Elena's preferred way), and Lah-TINKS (rhymes with sphinx). There's also those who say the first two syllables in Spanish, La-TIN-ex.

On One Day at a Time, Elena says Latinx as Luh-TEEN-ex but I much prefer the pronuciation of Latin-ex. Anyone else care to opine? (The one that really grates my ear is Lah-TINKS)

- Vanessa Erazo (@infoCinelandia) January 31, 2018

As Vanessa's tweet showed, people certainly have opinions about the right way to say the word. So with all that, we're asking you, how do you pronounce Latinx? Take our poll below:

How do you pronounce "Latinx"?

- REMEZCLA (@REMEZCLA) January 31, 2018

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What's the Right Way to Pronounce Latinx?

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The word Latinx is contentious. While created as a gender-neutral alternative to Latino and Latina, some believe that Latino already does an effective job at grouping a large number of men and women with Latin American origins. But others believe the term is flawed.

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Latinx was originally formed in the early aughts as a word for those of Latin American descent who do not identify as being of the male or female gender or who simply don't want to be identified by gender. More than likely, there was little consideration for how it was supposed to be pronounced when it was created. Nevertheless, people have attempted to assign some pronunciations to it. The most common way to pronounce Latinx is the same way you would Spanish-derived or but pronouncing the "x" as the name of the English letter . So you get something like \luh-TEE-neks\.

Latinx is used generally as a gender-neutral term for Latin Americans, but it has been especially embraced by members of Latin LGBTQ communities as a word to identify themselves as people of Latin descent possessing a gender identity outside the male/female binary.

Anita: mid-20s to early 30s, sexy, vivacious, and full of life, must be an amazing dancer, strong belt to C#, strong actor, Latinx preferred, principal.
- Back Stage East, 19 Apr. 2007

Of the total 70 LGBTQ characters counted, 48 were white (69%), nine were black (13%), four were Asian or Pacific Islander (6%) and one was Latinx, the de-gendered term for those of Latin descent (1%).
- Tre'vell Anderson, The Los Angeles Times, 27 May 2017

An increasingly popular term utilized by the general public, "Latinx" seeks to move beyond gender binaries and provide better inclusion for the LGBTQ community.
- Samantha Díaz Roberts, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, 10 Dec. 2016

As things get under way, a young Latinx couple-Tania (Paloma Nozicka) and Pablo (Gabriel Ruiz)-have moved into an old and stately Washington neighborhood alongside Frank (Patrick Clear) and Virginia (Janet Ulrich Brooks), an older white couple.
- Mike Fischer, The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 18 June 2017

Visibility for Latinx, the gender-neutral term for U.S.-born individuals with Latin American heritage, and Latin American artists has been on the upswing in the past few years, especially within critically acclaimed indie circles.
- Alejandra Salazar, The San Francisco Chronicle, 20 Mar. 2017

The male/female binary is inherent in the Spanish language, which lacks a neuter noun form. Thus, nouns are either masculine, generally indicated by an "-o" ending ( Latino), or feminine, indicated by "-a" ( Latina). The same applies to Portuguese and other Western Iberian languages.

Latinx purposefully breaks with Spanish's gendered grammatical tradition. X signifies something unknown and is used in Latinx to connote unspecified gender. A similar use of "x" is in , a gender-neutral title of courtesy that is used in place of gendered titles, such as Mr. and Ms. It has been suggested that the use of "x" in Mx. influenced Latinx.

Other efforts challenging the gender binary in Spanish include the use of the slash ( Latino/a) and at sign ( Latin@)-the symbol suggesting inclusivity by having an "o" encircling an "a." These alternatives denote both male and female in their formation but do not include those outside the gender binary. Latinx, on the other hand, is a word free from gender in its makeup, which is why those who identify as trans, queer, or nonbinary use it to express their identity.

Though Latinx is becoming common in social media and in academic writing, it is unclear whether it will catch on in mainstream use. Nevertheless, it is gaining noticeable traction among the general public as a gender-inclusive term for Latin Americans of diverse identities and orientations.
Update: This word was added in September 2018.

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Latinx is a term inclusive of multiple gender identities that's becoming more popular.

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‘Latinx’: An offense to the Spanish language or a nod to inclusion?
Washington Post

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Affective communities and millennial desires: Latinx,or why my computer won’t recognize Latina/o

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Affective communities and millennial desires: Latinx,or why my computer won’t recognize Latina/o

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To Latinx Or Not To Latinx: Why Do So Many People Dislike The Term? | NBC Latino

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Do People PREFER the Term "HISPANIC" or "LATINX"? | Dee on the Street

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What's in an "x"? An Exchange about the Politics of "Latinx"