The word was first proposed in the late 1970s.[3][4] The x is intended to stand as a wildcard character, and does not necessarily imply a "mixed" gender.[5]
Usage
In 2015, Mx. was included in a New York Times article about Bluestockings.[6] Its casual usage in the paper was picked up by popular news sites and blogs.[7][8]The Times's standards editor Phil Corbett later responded to the usage of the title.[9] Later the same year, Mx. was included in the Oxford English Dictionary.[10]
In December 2020, the Provincial Court of British Columbia, Canada issued guidance to lawyers and litigants about court introductions, calling for court participants, when introducing themselves, to state the pronouns and courtesy title that should be used for them. "Mx." was one of the titles that participants were invited to use.[11]
Although Mx. remains uncommon in the United States, in April 2016 it was added to the Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary.[12]
Indian airlines Vistara and AirAsia India, both Tata Group companies, added Mx. as a third option for passengers booking flights from June 2022.[13]
In 2025, Donald Trump ordered federal agencies in the United States to limit or avoid several words and expressions, Mx. included.[14]
In 2016, Metro Bank became the first bank in the United Kingdom to offer Mx. on its forms (though other banks had amended records to Mx. on request prior to this).[19] In 2017, banks of the HSBC Group announced the addition of Mx. alongside several other gender-neutral titles as options for their customers.[20] HSBC's 30March announcement coincided with the International Transgender Day of Visibility, celebrated the following day.[21]
An informal study in 2023 found that 68% of 2,426 participants worldwide who use the title pronounced it /mɪks/, while 24% pronounced it /məks/.[2]Mixter is sometimes treated as a long form of the title (like Mister is of Mr).[15][25]
↑"A change in how parties and lawyers should introduce themselves in court | Provincial Court of British Columbia". Provincial Court of British Columbia. 16 December 2020. Archived from the original on 21 January 2023. Retrieved 23 May 2023. In the new Notice, the Court is asking people to state their name, title (sometimes called "salutation"), and pronouns to be used in the proceeding, and for lawyers to provide this information for their clients. For example: "My name is Ms. Jane Lee, spelled L-E-E. I use she/her pronouns. I am the lawyer for Mx. Joe Carter who uses they/them pronouns". ("Mx." is pronounced like the word "mix" and is a gender-neutral title/salutation.)
