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.1 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.2
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.
Bessette/Pitney’s AMERICAN GOVERNMENT AND POLITICS: DELIBERATION, DEMOCRACY AND CITIZENSHIP reviews the idea of "deliberative democracy." Building on the book, this blog offers insights, analysis, and facts about recent events.