75% who have heard of the term say it should not be used
Pew Research Center surveyed 5,078 Hispanic adults from Nov. 6 to Nov. 19, 2023, as part of the 2023 National Survey of Latinos. We asked survey respondents about their awareness and views of the term Latinx and other labels used to describe people of Hispanic or Latino origin or descent. The sample includes 1,524 Hispanic adults who were members of Pew Research Center’s American Trends Panel (ATP). It also includes an oversample of 3,554 respondents sampled from Ipsos’ KnowledgePanel. The survey was conducted online in both English and Spanish.
Both the ATP and KnowledgePanel are online survey panels that are recruited through national, random sampling of residential addresses. Recruiting panelists by mail ensures that nearly all U.S. adults have a chance of selection. This gives us confidence that any sample can represent the whole population (refer to our Methods 101 explainer on random sampling). For more information on this survey, refer to its methodology and topline.
The pan-ethnic terms Hispanic and Latino are used interchangeably in this report.
Latinx and Latine are pan-ethnic terms used to describe people who are of or relate to Latin American origin or descent. They are regarded by some as gender-neutral or nonbinary alternatives to Latino, Latina and Hispanic.
Immigrants refers to persons born outside of the 50 states or the District of Columbia. For the purposes of this report, immigrants also includes those born in Puerto Rico or other U.S. territories. Although individuals born in Puerto Rico are U.S. citizens by birth, they are grouped with immigrants because they are born into a Spanish-dominant culture and because on many points their attitudes, views and beliefs are much closer to those of Hispanics born outside the U.S. than to Hispanics born in the 50 states or D.C., even those who identify themselves as being of Puerto Rican origin.
U.S. born refers to persons born in the 50 states or D.C.
Second generation in this report refers to people born in the 50 states or D.C. with at least one immigrant parent.
Third or higher generation refers to people born in the 50 states or D.C., with both parents born in the 50 states or D.C.
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.
Throughout this report, the phrases Democrats and Democratic leaners and Democrats refer to respondents who identify politically with the Democratic Party or who are independent or identify with some other party but lean toward the Democratic Party. Similarly, the phrases Republicans and Republican leaners and Republicans both refer to respondents who identify politically with the Republican Party or are independent or identify with some other party but lean toward the Republican Party.
In the long-running debates about which terms to use to describe the U.S. population with roots in Latin America and Spain, “Latinx” has emerged as a gender-neutral alternative to Hispanic and Latino, the two most popular pan-ethnic terms used today.
After years of public use by celebrities, leaders, media, academics and others, awareness of Latinx has grown among U.S. Latinos. Nearly half (47%) say they have heard of Latinx, up from 23% who said the same in 2019. Notably, awareness of Latinx has grown across nearly all major demographic subgroups of U.S. Latinos.
Still, about half of the population that Latinx is meant to describe has never heard of the term.
While awareness of the term has grown, the share who use Latinx to describe themselves is statistically unchanged: 4% of Latino adults say they have used Latinx to describe themselves, little changed from the 3% who said the same in 2019.
Importantly, the 4% of Latino adults who say they have used Latinx to describe themselves amount to an estimated 1.9 million people.
As awareness of Latinx has grown, its rise in use in some spaces has brought increased scrutiny in the United States and abroad.
In the U.S., a Latino civil rights organization dropped its use of Latinx in 2021, while federal and state elected officials across both major political parties have moved to ban the term. Arkansas’ governor banned the use of Latinx in state government documents in 2023. Meanwhile, others remain advocates for the term and other gender-neutral alternatives.
Latinx is broadly unpopular among Latino adults who have heard of it, according to the survey.
- 75% of Latinos who have heard of the term Latinx say it should not be used to describe the Hispanic or Latino population, up from 65% saying the same in 2019.
And Hispanics are more likely to view more widespread use of Latinx as a bad thing rather than as something positive. About a third (36%) who have heard of the term say it is a bad thing for people to use Latinx more often, while 12% say it is a good thing. Another 38% of Hispanics view growing use of the term as neither good nor bad, and 14% say they are not sure.
These are findings from a new analysis of Pew Research Center’s bilingual National Survey of Latinos, conducted Nov. 6-19, 2023, among a nationally representative sample of 5,078 Hispanic adults.
Jump to more on Hispanics’ views of Latinx.
The debate around Latinx
Critics of the term Latinx say it is an imposition by English speakers and is disruptive to Hispanic or Latino culture. Some who oppose its use also mention that it doesn’t follow Spanish language rules and can be difficult to pronounce and use.
While major English language sources such as the Oxford English Dictionary recognize Latinx, the Real Academia Española (RAE), which many view as the official arbiter on the Spanish language, has not included the term in its dictionary. The RAE has broadly rejected the use of “x” as a gender-neutral option for the Spanish language.
Yet supporters of Latinx view it as an inclusive term that serves groups that have been historically sidelined within Hispanic or Latin American culture, including those who have felt marginalized by binary gender categories.
And although early uses of the term are often attributed to U.S. scholars and activists, some of its earliest uses can also be traced to Latin America.
Despite these headwinds, it remains to be seen if growing awareness of Latinx may lead to greater adoption of the term by U.S. Latinos. In its early days, before official government recognition, the term Hispanic was less known than it is today. But with federal adoption and widespread use in federal surveys like the 1980 decennial census, the term gained greater adoption, even if many people in the population it is meant to describe feel ambivalent about it.
Globally, movements are underway in many countries to introduce and use gender-neutral language, including in the U.S.
Among U.S. Latinos, who has heard of Latinx and who uses it?
Awareness of the term Latinx among U.S. Latino adults has increased since 2019, including across major demographic subgroups. But despite this broad increase in awareness, there are differences by demographic characteristics. College graduates (74%), lesbian, gay or bisexual adults (67%) and adults ages 18 to 29 (60%) are more likely than Latinos in general (47%) to say they have heard the term.
And about half of Latinos have heard of Latinx, regardless of political party affiliation. In contrast, in 2019, Democrats were nearly twice as likely as Republicans to say they had heard of Latinx.
While the use of Latinx among U.S. Hispanics has not grown since 2019, some demographic subgroups are more likely than Hispanic adults overall (4%) to say they have used the term to describe themselves.
- 13% of lesbian, gay or bisexual Latinos say they have used Latinx to describe themselves.
- 9% of Afro-Latinos say they use Latinx.
Nonetheless, no major Latino demographic subgroup is close to having a majority say they have used Latinx to describe themselves.
Jump to more on Hispanics’ awareness and use of Latinx.
The emergence of another pan-ethnic term: Latine
As visibility and some controversy around Latinx grew in recent years, including efforts to ban its use, another gender neutral term, Latine, has emerged as an alternative.
However, the November 2023 survey finds that Latine is largely unknown among U.S. Hispanics.
- 18% of Hispanic adults have heard of the term Latine, while 79% say they have not.
Similar to familiarity with Latinx, levels of awareness of Latine are also linked to age, education and sexual orientation.
Hispanic and Latino are the preferred pan-ethnic terms
A large majority of U.S. adults who trace their roots to Spain and Latin America continue to prefer the terms Hispanic or Latino when choosing a pan-ethnic term to describe themselves as a group (81%). Meanwhile, 15% have no preference and only 3% prefer Latinx or Latine.
Yet about one-in-four who have used Latinx to describe themselves personally (24%) prefer Latinx or Latine to describe the Hispanic or Latino population overall.
Jump to more on Hispanics’ pan-ethnic term preferences.
