Normative forms she,he It's worth mentioning that pronouns ≠ gender. One can still be nonbinary while using pronouns that are congruent with (or opposite to) their gender assigned at birth.
Normative-ish forms they,they/them/themself,it,one Those pronouns have been in common use in normative English already, but recently they got a slightly different new usage: describing a single, specific person. If you want to link to plural “they”, use {/they,!5,Plural%20“they”=this link}.
Popular neopronouns ae,ey,fae,xe,ze,ze/zir Unlike the other pronouns, which are officially recognised as “grammatically correct”, albeit used in a different meaning than we're used to, neopronouns are novel. Not being included in dictionaries doesn't make them any worse, though!
Other neopronouns co,e,e/em/es,hu,ne,ne/nir,per,s/he,thon,ve,vi,vi/vim,zhe These neopronouns are less often used than their more popular counterparts, but it doesn't make them any worse (and some of them are historically notable). Some neoprouns' names are derived from the names of their creators. If your pronoun is not on the list, use the generator below!
1
name
pronouns
description
Normative forms
she,he
It's worth mentioning that pronouns ≠ gender. One can still be nonbinary while using pronouns that are congruent with (or opposite to) their gender assigned at birth.
Normative-ish forms
they,they/them/themself,it,one
Those pronouns have been in common use in normative English already, but recently they got a slightly different new usage: describing a single, specific person. If you want to link to plural “they”, use {/they,!5,Plural%20“they”=this link}.
Popular neopronouns
ae,ey,fae,xe,ze,ze/zir
Unlike the other pronouns, which are officially recognised as “grammatically correct”, albeit used in a different meaning than we're used to, neopronouns are novel. Not being included in dictionaries doesn't make them any worse, though!
These neopronouns are less often used than their more popular counterparts, but it doesn't make them any worse (and some of them are historically notable). Some neoprouns' names are derived from the names of their creators. If your pronoun is not on the list, use the generator below!
he,he/him Normative “he/him” TRUE he him his his himself FALSE FALSE TRUE
she,she/her Normative “she/her” TRUE she her her hers herself FALSE FALSE TRUE
they,they/them Singular “they” TRUE they them their theirs themselves TRUE TRUE TRUE Singular “they” has been used in English to describe an unspecified person since the late 1300s (it's even older than singular “you”!). Nowadays, it's the most popular choice among people who prefer gender neutral forms. It starts being {https://www.merriam-webster.com/words-at-play/singular-nonbinary-they=accepted by dictionaries} too.@It is also common to use {/they/them/themself=“themself”} as a reflexive form. reflexive This list of sources includes both the version with {/they=“themselves”} and {/they/them/themselves=“themself”}, as well as those that don't happen to use reflexive.
they/them/themself Singular “they” TRUE they them their theirs themself TRUE TRUE TRUE Singular “they” has been used in English to describe an unspecified person since the late 1300s (it's even older than singular “you”!). Nowadays, it's the most popular choice among people who prefer gender neutral forms. It starts being {https://www.merriam-webster.com/words-at-play/singular-nonbinary-they=accepted by dictionaries} too.@It is also common to use {/they=“themselves”} as a reflexive form. reflexive This list of sources includes both the version with {/they=“themselves”} and {/they/them/themselves=“themself”}, as well as those that don't happen to use reflexive.
it,it/it,it/its Personal “it” TRUE it it its its itself FALSE FALSE TRUE Although “it” is normally used for objects, not people, some actually do like being called that way. If someone wants you to call it “it”, it's not offensive – it's actually respectful. But remember that it/its pronouns have a history of transphobic use, so only with people who explicitly wish it.
one,one/one's Specific “one” TRUE one one one's one's oneself FALSE FALSE TRUE “One” is used in formal English when talking about a general or a hypothetical person. Recently people started using “one” also as their personal pronoun.
ae,æ,ae/aer,æ/ær Neopronoun “ae” / “æ” FALSE ae|eɪ aer|ɛɹ aer|ɛɹ aers|ɛɹz aerself|ɛɹˈsɛlf FALSE FALSE TRUE Created by David Lindsay for a 1920 novel <em>A Voyage to Arcturus</em>, where it's used by an alien, third-sex species.
co,co/cos Neopronoun “co/cos” FALSE co|ko co|ko cos|koz co's|koz coself|koˈsɛlf FALSE FALSE TRUE Created by Mary Orovan in 1970, derived from the Indo-European <em>*ko</em>.
e,e/em/eir Spivak pronouns FALSE e|i em|ɛm eir|ɛɹ eirs|ɛɹz emself|ɛmˈsɛlf FALSE FALSE TRUE Coined by Michael Spivak in 1990 for his manual <em>The Joy of TeX</em> to avoid gendering people in the examples. possessive_determiner
e/em/es Neopronoun “e/em/es” FALSE e|i em|ɛm es|iz ems|ɛmz emself|ɛmˈsɛlf FALSE FALSE TRUE First created in 1890 by James Rogers based on {/he=he} and {/them=them} pronoun sets. Since then multiple versions were created, differing in declension and capitalisation. possessive_determiner
ey,ey/em Elverson pronouns FALSE ey|eɪ em|ɛm eir|ɛɹ eirs|ɛɹz emself|ɛmˈsɛlf FALSE FALSE TRUE {https://research.cristanwilliams.com/2012/02/24/1975-transgender-cross-gender/=Coined by Christine M. Elverson} in 1975 for a contest to create an alternative to the singular {/they=they}. Those forms are created by dropping “th” from “they”.
fae,fæ,fae/faer,fæ/fær Neopronoun “fae/faer” FALSE fae|feɪ faer|fɛɹ faer|fɛɹ faers|fɛɹz faerself|fɛɹˈsɛlf FALSE FALSE TRUE Created in 2014 by Tumblr user shadaras.
hu,hu/hum Humanist pronouns FALSE hu|hju hum|hjum hus|hjuz hus|hjuz huself|hjuˈsɛlf FALSE FALSE TRUE Coined by Sasha Newborn in 1982, based on the word “human”.
per,per/per Person pronouns FALSE per|pəɹ per|pəɹ per|pəɹ pers|pəɹz perself|pəɹˈsɛlf FALSE FALSE TRUE Coined by John Clark in an issue of the <em>Newsletter of the American Anthropological Association</em> in 1972, derived from the word “person”.
thon,thon/thons Neopronoun “thon” FALSE thon|ðɑn thon|ðɑn thons|ðɑnz thon's|ðɑnz thonself|ðɑnˈsɛlf FALSE FALSE TRUE Created by Charles Crozat Converse in 1858, thon/thons/thonself is one of the first known examples of creating a gender neutral pronoun. “Thon” is a contraction of “that one”.
ve,ve/ver Neopronoun “ve/ver” FALSE ve|vi ver|vəɹ vis|viz vers|vəɹz verself|vəɹˈsɛlf FALSE FALSE TRUE Used eg. by Greg Egan in <em>Distress</em> (1995) and <em>Diaspora</em> (1998), and by Keri Hulme in <em>The Bone People</em> (1984).
xe,xe/xem Neopronoun “xe/xem” FALSE xe|zi xem|zɛm xyr|ziɹ xyrs|ziɹz xemself|zɛmˈsɛlf FALSE FALSE TRUE Coined by Don Rickter in an issue of <em>Unitarian Universalist</em> in 1973.
ze/zir Neopronoun “ze/zir” FALSE ze|zi zir|zəɹ zir|zəɹ zirs|zəɹz zirself|zəɹˈsɛlf FALSE FALSE TRUE Based on the German plural 3rd person pronoun <em>sie</em>.
Andrea