How to find your generation
- Enter the year you were born, or switch to Date of birth if you also want your exact age today.
- Read your generation and its birth years. The result also shows the ages your generation turns this year, where your birth year falls inside it, and the generations before and after yours.
- Check the notes. If you were born within a year of a boundary, or after the years Pew has covered, the calculator says so.
If your birth day does not exist in a month (a February 29 or 31st birthday), your exact age uses the last day of that month. Some places, and the DATEDIF function in spreadsheets, count this differently, so an age can differ by a day.
The list under the form shows every generation with the ages its members turn this year, so you can compare yours with your parents' or children's.
Generations by birth year chart
These are the generation years Pew Research Center uses in its reports. Each generation runs from January 1 of its first year to December 31 of its last.
| Generation | Born | Span |
|---|---|---|
| Greatest Generation | before 1928 | |
| Silent Generation | 1928 to 1945 | 18 years |
| Baby Boomers | 1946 to 1964 | 19 years |
| Generation X | 1965 to 1980 | 16 years |
| Millennials | 1981 to 1996 | 16 years |
| Generation Z | 1997 to 2012 (end not fixed) | 16 years |
| Not yet named by Pew | 2013 onward |
So the Baby Boomer years are 1946 to 1964, the Gen X years 1965 to 1980, the Millennial years 1981 to 1996 and the Gen Z years 1997 to 2012.
Where the lines come from
Generations are not official categories. They are groupings that researchers choose so they can compare people of similar ages over time. Pew Research Center, a US research organization, publishes the ranges most widely quoted. In 2019 it set the line between Millennials and Gen Z:
"Anyone born between 1981 and 1996 (ages 23 to 38 in 2019) is considered a Millennial, and anyone born from 1997 onward is part of a new generation."Pew Research Center, 2019
Pew explains that only the Boomers have a clear natural boundary, the rise in births after World War II and the fall after 1964, and that "there are no comparably definitive thresholds by which later generational boundaries are defined." The US Census Bureau uses the same Baby Boomer years, describing them as "those born between 1946 and 1964".
For Gen Z, Pew's tables list 1997 to 2012 with a footnote: "No chronological endpoint has been set for this group." In other words, Pew has not set a firm end year for Gen Z or a start year for the next generation. Its 2021 table also lists an "Under 7" group from 2012, so 2012 sits at the edge of both.
What generation am I if I was born in 1998, 2000 or 2012?
| Born in | Generation (Pew) | Note |
|---|---|---|
| 1960 | Baby Boomer | |
| 1965 | Gen X | first Gen X year |
| 1975 | Gen X | |
| 1980 | Gen X | last Gen X year |
| 1981 | Millennial | first Millennial year |
| 1990 | Millennial | |
| 1996 | Millennial | last Millennial year |
| 1997 | Gen Z | first Gen Z year |
| 1998 | Gen Z | |
| 2000 | Gen Z | |
| 2005 | Gen Z | |
| 2010 | Gen Z | McCrindle: Generation Alpha |
| 2012 | Gen Z | last year in Pew's tables |
| 2015 | not named by Pew | McCrindle: Generation Alpha |
If you were born in 2000, you are Gen Z: 2000 is the fourth of Gen Z's sixteen birth years. If you were born in 1996, you are a Millennial by one year.
Generation Alpha and the generation after Gen Z
Pew has not named a generation after Gen Z. The name you will usually see is Generation Alpha, which comes from McCrindle Research in Australia. McCrindle says "Generation Alpha are defined as those born from 2010-2024" and that "Generation Beta will be born from 2025 to 2039."
McCrindle's years do not line up with Pew's: someone born in 2010, 2011 or 2012 is Gen Z in Pew's tables and Generation Alpha in McCrindle's. The calculator follows Pew, and shows the McCrindle name as a second label where it applies.
Born near the line: xennials and zillennials
People born a year or two either side of a boundary often feel they share something with both generations. Informal labels have grown up for this, such as "xennial" for people near the Gen X and Millennial line, and "zillennial" for people near the Millennial and Gen Z line. They are popular nicknames, not research categories, and they have no agreed years, so the calculator only mentions them when your birth year is next to a boundary.
Questions and answers
What generation am I if I was born in 2000?
Gen Z. Pew Research Center counts people born from 1997 to 2012 as Generation Z, so 2000 is well inside it.
What are the Millennial years?
Pew Research Center counts people born from 1981 to 1996 as Millennials. Some other sources start or end a year or two differently.
What are the Gen Z years?
Pew starts Gen Z in 1997 and lists it to 2012 in its tables, while noting that no end point has been set. McCrindle Research starts Generation Alpha in 2010, so the two overlap for 2010 to 2012.
What are the Gen X and Baby Boomer years?
Gen X is 1965 to 1980 and the Baby Boomers are 1946 to 1964, according to Pew. The US Census Bureau uses the same Baby Boomer years.
Am I a Millennial or Gen Z if I was born in 1996 or 1997?
1996 is the last Millennial year and 1997 is the first Gen Z year in Pew's ranges. If you were born in either year, you may hear the informal label "zillennial".
Is there an official generation list?
No. Governments do not define most generations. Pew Research Center's ranges are the most widely used, and the US Census Bureau uses 1946 to 1964 for Baby Boomers.
Sources
Checked on 8 October 2026. If a rule has changed, please tell us.