The ways Hispanics describe their identity vary across immigrant generations

About half of Hispanic adults say they most often describe themselves by their family’s country of origin or heritage, using terms such as Mexican, Cuban, Puerto Rican or Salvadoran, while another 39% most often describe themselves as “Hispanic” or “Latino,” the pan-ethnic terms used most often to describe this group in the U.S.

Meanwhile, 14% say they most often call themselves American, according to a national Pew Research Center survey of Hispanic adults conducted in December 2019.

Learn more about U.S. Latino identity and trends: 

• Who is Hispanic?
• Education levels of recent Latino immigrants in the U.S. reached new highs as of 2018
• Hispanics have accounted for more than half of total U.S. population growth since 2010

About one-in-four U.S. Hispanics have heard of Latinx, but just 3% use it

Only 23% of U.S. adults who self-identify as Hispanic or Latino have heard of the term Latinx, and just 3% say they use it to describe themselves, according to a bilingual survey of U.S. Hispanic adults conducted in December 2019 by Pew Research Center. Use of the term is highest for Hispanic women ages 18 to 29, with 14% saying they use it, compared with the 1% of Hispanic men in the same age group who say they do.

• Rising share of lawmakers – but few Republicans – are using the term Latinx on social media

Coronavirus economic downturn has hit Latinos especially hard

Latinos say they have had a hard time making ends meet during the outbreak, according to Pew Research Center surveys. About six-in-ten Latinos (59%) in May said they live in households that have experienced job losses or pay cuts due to the coronavirus outbreak, with a far lower share of U.S. adults (43%) saying the same.

See more of the Center's research on Latinos and COVID-19:

• Hispanic voters say economy, health care and COVID-19 are top issues in 2020 presidential election
• Hispanics more likely than Americans overall to see coronavirus as a major threat to health and finances
• Americans favor medical care but not economic aid for undocumented immigrants affected by COVID-19

Key facts about U.S. Latinos for National Hispanic Heritage Month

Most Cuban American voters identify as Republican in 2020

Before COVID-19, many Latinos worried about their place in America and had experienced discrimination

Amid COVID-19, remittances to some Latin American nations fell sharply in April, then rebounded

Media mentions

From our research