Wordorigins.org

A jinx is a person or thing that carries bad luck. The origin is unknown, but Douglas Wilson has suggested an etymology that could very well be correct.

According to Wilson’s hypothesis, jinx comes from a character named Jinks Hoodoo in the 1887 play Little Puck starring Frank Daniels. The cast list, as printed in the New York Daily Tribune of 18 January 1888, described the character as:

Jinks Hoodoo, esq., a curse to everybody