Generic Gender-Neutral Terms:
Friend, Associate, Buddy, Pal, Companion, Individual, Person, Accomplice, Colleague, Comrade, Acquaintance, Being, Someone, or Coworker.
GNL + NEL Terms For Family Roles:
Parent, Child, Sibling, Youth, Kid, Grandparent, Cousin, Relative
Nibling — Nonbinary equivalent of a Niece or Nephew. People also use Niblet for this purpose
Ren/Renny — Focusing on the ‘ren’ in ‘Parent’ to create a term similar to Mom/Mommy or Dad/Daddy. Sounds like ‘wren’; the bird.
Sib/Sibler — Nonbinary equivalent of Sister/Brother and related shortened terms.
GNL + NEL Terms For Relationship Roles:
Partner, Spouse, Paramour, Lover, Date, Sweetheart, Honey, Betrothed, Significant Other, Engaged
Theyfriend — Nonbinary equivalent of Girlfriend/Boyfriend. You can use any pronoun in place of the ‘they’ in ‘Theyfriend’ if a person uses other pronouns.
Theyspouse — Similar to ‘Theyfriend’; use of pronouns as a suffix to create explicitly nonbinary terms. A spouse who is nonbinary.
Datefriend, Bothfriend, Lovefriend, Datemate — Other nonbinary terms for an individual who is dating someone and is nonbinary. Up to personal choice and preference.
Nonbinary-exclusive Terms For Person:
Enby — A shortening of the word nonbinary similar to girl/boy. Good word for a nonbinary child. Very validating word for some nonbinary people. Many nonbinary people of all ages enjoy this term, however it has a slightly feminine feel to it which can be uncomfortable for some nonbinary people. Little less than half of all nonbinary people dislike this term for multiple reasons. However, many nonbinary people do like this word. It’s best to check before using it for someone. [Not a good term for the nonbinary community at whole; it’s best to just write out the whole word!]
Androgyne — A bit vintage, dating back to Victorian language for androgynous and/or intersex people. Means ‘An androgynous individual’. Can be shortened to ‘Andro’ for a simpler term. Not all nonbinary people are androgynous, so again it’s good to check. Especially for nonbinary people who lean towards the feminine side of things, this term can make them especially uncomfortable. Please be considerate and always ask before using a term for someone.
Theyperson — In following the more recent format of pronoun-based terms, a [Pronoun]person is a term interchangeable with all potential pronoun sets regardless of gender, but does allow for nonbinary-exclusive terms such as this one with less potential for misgendering or inducing dysphoria. Some nonbinary people will just prefer GNL over NEL, as intentionally outing oneself as nonbinary is not always the desire or goal for every single person.
They — While they is a pronoun used for many nonbinary people instead of she or he [Ex: Vin is a writer and they are writing this piece right now.] it is also a potential alternative term to ‘enby’ for a nonbinary person for those who don’t want to write out ‘nonbinary’ every single time. The writer of this piece enjoys being referred to as ‘a they’, or in ways similar to ‘They’re a they and they’ll be taking your order’ etc. (They do not enjoy being referred to as an enby!) However, some nonbinary people may find this dehumanizing as women and men are not often referred to as ‘a she’ or ‘a he’ in the same fashion. As usual, depends on the needs of each individual.
Replacement for Ma'am and Sir
There are multiple honorifics and titles for individuals which are gender neutral linguistically. The most common honorific is the term ‘Mx.’ [said like ‘mix’]. The x acts as a wild card, taking the usual title format of Mr and Ms, and putting in an x to remove the gender in the title. This honorific has been legally recognized by several businesses, countries, and other associations but is primarily only seen on actual paperwork in the U.K. as of this moment. Places such as Canada, Washington, California, and Oregon will likely eventually follow as they all also work towards legal recognition of nonbinary trans people. However, we are still a good ways away from ‘Mx’ being listed as an option everywhere.(Much less other nonbinary honorifics!) Other honorifics include: Ind., Rev., Dr., M., Misc., Mre., Msr., Myr., Pr., or Mn..