Mx (title)

Etymology

The word was first proposed in the late 1970s. The x is intended to stand as a wildcard character, and does not necessarily imply a "mixed" gender.

Usage

In 2013, Brighton and Hove City Council in Sussex, England, voted to allow the use of Mx on council forms, and in 2014 the Royal Bank of Scotland included the title as an option for customers. In 2015, recognition spread more broadly across UK institutions, including the Royal Mail, government agencies responsible for documents such as driving licences, most major banks, several other companies, and UK charity Battersea Dogs & Cats Home.

The title is now accepted by the Department for Work and Pensions, HM Revenue and Customs, the National Health Service and many councils, universities, insurance companies and utility retailers in the United Kingdom. The House of Commons of the United Kingdom confirmed in 2015 that it would accept the use of Mx by MPs.

In 2015, Mx was included in a New York Times article about Bluestockings. Its casual usage in the paper was picked up by popular news sites and blogs. The Times standards editor Phil Corbett later responded to the usage of the title. Later the same year, Mx was included in the Oxford English Dictionary. 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). In 2017, banks of the HSBC Group announced the addition of Mx alongside several other gender-neutral titles as options for their customers. HSBC's 30 March announcement coincided with the International Transgender Day of Visibility, celebrated the following day.

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.

In March 2021, Oscar Davies, a non-binary barrister from the United Kingdom, became the first person to use Mx (instead of Mr/Ms) on the board of their chambers.

Although Mx remains uncommon in the United States, in April 2016 it was added to the Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary.

Indian airlines Vistara and AirAsia India, both Tata Group companies, added Mx as a third option for passengers booking flights from June 2022.

In 2025, Donald Trump ordered federal agencies in the USA to limit or avoid several words and expressions, Mx included.

Pronunciation

An informal study in 2023 found that 68% of 2,426 participants worldwide who use the title pronounced it , while 24% pronounced it . Mixter is sometimes treated as a long form of the title (like Mister is of Mr).

References

References

1. "Definition of Mx".
2. (2023). "The prevalence and pronunciation of the title Mx (2023)".
3. (3 May 2015). "Now pick Mr, Mrs, Miss, Ms . . . or Mx for no specific gender". The Sunday Times.
4. Goldhill, Olivia. (11 May 2015). "What's it like to be a Mx?". The Telegraph.
5. Titman, Nat. (28 August 2014). "When was the Mx gender-inclusive title created?".
6. (10 May 2013). "Mx (Mixter) title adopted in Brighton for transgender people". BBC News.
7. Saner, Emine. (17 November 2014). "RBS: The bank that likes to say Mx". The Guardian.
8. (3 May 2015). "Now pick Mr, Mrs, Miss, Ms . . . or Mx for no specific gender". The Sunday Times.
9. (26 May 2015). "MPs given gender neutral option when entering House of Commons".
10. Curkin, Charles. (29 November 2015). "At Bluestockings, a Manhattan Activist Center, Radical Is Sensible".
11. Smith, Sydney. (3 December 2015). "What is Mx.? Gender-Neutral Pronoun used by NYTimes as Honorific".
12. Bloomgarden-Smoke, Kara. (11 November 2015). "The New York Times Adds 'Mx.' to the Honorific Mix".
13. Corbett, Phil. (3 December 2015). "A 'Mx.'? Did The Times Adopt a New, Gender-Neutral Courtesy Title?".
14. Pai, Tanya. (31 December 2015). "10 words that explain 2015".
15. (3 November 2016). "A British bank has become the first in the world to offer a third gender option for 'non-binary' customers".
16. (30 March 2017). "HSBC adds new transgender titles including M and Misc". BBC News.
17. (30 March 2017). "HSBC offers choice of transgender titles for bank's customers". [[The Guardian]].
18. (16 December 2020). "A change in how parties and lawyers should introduce themselves in court {{!}} Provincial Court of British Columbia".
19. (8 March 2021). "Non-binary barrister listed as 'Mx' by chambers in legal milestone". [[Legal Cheek]].
20. (18 March 2021). "Non-binary barrister's title marks a legal first". [[The Times]].
21. (19 March 2021). "Non-binary barrister first to appear in chambers with 'Mx' title". [[Scottish Legal News]].
22. "A Gender-Neutral Honorific".
23. (9 June 2022). "Vistara, AirAsia add gender-neutral flight booking options". The Hindu.
24. (7 March 2025). "These Words Are Disappearing in the New Trump Administration". The New York Times.
25. Bahadur, Nina. (11 April 2013). "Swedish gender-neutral pronoun, 'Hen', added to country's National Encyclopedia".