What Does Nonbinary Mean? A Reputable Guide for Families

TransHealthHub

Aug 17

4 min read

KEY TAKEAWAYS

Nonbinary is an umbrella term for gender identities that sit outside the categories of exclusively man or exclusively woman.
Nonbinary and transgender overlap but are not the same word. In the Williams Institute's August 2025 estimate, about 33% of U.S. transgender adults, roughly 707,100 people, are nonbinary.
Being nonbinary is not a mental health condition and requires no medical step to be real.
Pronouns vary. In a 2020 Trevor Project survey, 33% of nonbinary young people used they/them exclusively.
You may see the word written as nonbinary or non-binary, alongside related words such as genderqueer or agender. They describe the same broad category.

What does nonbinary mean?

Nonbinary means a person's gender identity is not fully captured by "man" or "woman." That is the definition. Everything else, including pronouns, names, clothing, and any medical questions, varies from person to person.

The clearest U.S. reference point is the 2022 consensus report Measuring Sex, Gender Identity, and Sexual Orientation. That National Academies report treats nonbinary as "an umbrella term for the identities outside of the binary," covering identities that reflect identification with both man and woman, no fixed identification, or identification with no gender at all. The same report describes gender identity as conceptually distinct from sex, and as sometimes fluid.

At TransHealthHub, we find that families searching for what nonbinary means expect something complicated and are surprised by how simple the core idea is. Most of the confusion comes from the surrounding vocabulary.

Nonbinary, transgender, and cisgender: how the words relate

Term	What it describes
Nonbinary	Gender identity outside the man/woman binary
Transgender	Gender identity differs from sex assigned at birth
Cisgender	Gender identity corresponds to sex assigned at birth
Genderqueer, agender, genderfluid	More specific identities many people place under the nonbinary umbrella

Many nonbinary people consider themselves transgender. Some do not. A Williams Institute analysis of the Generations and TransPop studies, fielded 2016 to 2018, found a greater share of nonbinary LGBTQ adults described themselves as cisgender than as transgender, a reminder that these categories are self-described. Our companion page on what transgender means covers that term in more depth.

How many people are nonbinary?

Two national figures matter most, and they count different things.

Estimate	Figure	Source and data years
Transgender adults who are nonbinary	33.1%, about 707,100	Williams Institute, 2025, using 2021 to 2023 BRFSS
LGBTQ adults ages 18 to 60 who identify as nonbinary	1.2 million, about 11%	Williams Institute, Generations and TransPop, 2016 to 2018

The August 2025 estimate from Jody L. Herman and Andrew R. Flores puts the total transgender population at more than 2.8 million people aged 13 and older, about 1.0% of that age group. It also notes that the Youth Risk Behavior Survey collects no further gender identity detail from transgender youth, so no comparable federal estimate for nonbinary youth exists.

The words young people actually use

In The Trevor Project's survey of nonbinary youth, conducted in late 2020 among 13- to 24-year-olds, respondents also described themselves as queer (29%), gender non-conforming (27%), genderfluid (24%), genderqueer (23%), and agender (15%), many selecting more than one. That was a volunteer sample, not a population survey.

Pronouns varied too. Thirty-three percent used they/them exclusively, 20% paired they/them with she/her, and 16% paired they/them with he/him. Asking is simpler than guessing.

Is being nonbinary a diagnosis?

No. Nonbinary is an identity, not a medical condition, and no U.S. diagnostic manual lists it as one. What clinicians can diagnose is gender dysphoria, the clinically significant distress some people feel when their gender identity and their body or social role do not match. Some nonbinary people experience that distress, and some do not.

Being nonbinary does not point toward any particular medical path. Most of what supports a young person here is social and psychological: a name that fits, pronouns used consistently, a therapist who understands gender identity, and family who stay in the conversation. We cover supportive care separately.

What the research says about wellbeing

If a nonbinary young person in your life is struggling, support is available now. The 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline (call or text 988) and The Trevor Project (1-866-488-7386) are staffed and confidential. Our crisis support page lists more.

A systematic review and meta-analysis published in October 2024 in Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Mental Health pooled 21 studies covering 16,114 nonbinary young people aged 11 to 25, and reported poorer general mental health and more depressive symptoms than among cisgender peers. Those are associations, not causes. Nonbinary young people are not inherently prone to mental health difficulties, and researchers attribute the elevated risk to external stressors such as stigma and rejection. In The Trevor Project's data, nonbinary youth whose pronouns were respected by everyone at home reported attempting suicide in the prior year at 10%, compared with 27% where no one did.

Frequently asked questions

Is nonbinary the same as transgender? They overlap. Many nonbinary people identify as transgender; some identify as cisgender. Both are self-described.

What does nonbinary mean for pronouns? Nothing automatically. Some nonbinary people use they/them, some use she/her or he/him, and some use a combination.

Do nonbinary people need medical care? Not by definition. Any medical question is separate and belongs with the young person, their family, and a clinician.