Where to find a list of 'labeled generations'?

December 6, 2005 7:07 AM

Where can I find an extensive list of 'labeled generations'? (i.e. 'X', 'Y', 'The Greatest', 'Baby Boomers', etc.)

Is this only a 20th century thing? Were generations, say, around the time of the United States' Civil War labeled as well? Is this just a US thing?

posted by Wild_Eep to society & culture (8 comments total)

There's a list of American generations on Wikipedia.
posted by chrismear at 7:09 AM on December 6, 2005

Also on Wikipedia.
posted by Gator at 7:11 AM on December 6, 2005

Wordspy has some good ones, though I can't say it's exhaustive.
posted by needs more cowbell at 7:19 AM on December 6, 2005

Progressives: those born before 1916, aged 77 and older in 1992
Roaring '20s: those born between 1916 and 1925, aged 67-76
Depression: those born between 1926 and 1935, aged 57-66
World War II: those born between 1936 and 1945, aged 47-56
Early Boomers: those born between 1946 and 1955, aged 37-46
Late Boomers: those born between 1956 and 1965, aged 27-36
Baby Busters: those born between 1966 and 1976, aged 17-26, also known as Generation X.
posted by leafwoman at 7:38 AM on December 6, 2005

Ah, those ages are calculated from 1992. Let's update it for 2005:

Progressives: those born before 1916, aged 90 and older in 1992
Roaring '20s: those born between 1916 and 1925, aged 80-89
Depression: those born between 1926 and 1935, aged 70-79
World War II: those born between 1936 and 1945, aged 60-69
Early Boomers: those born between 1946 and 1955, aged 50-59
Late Boomers: those born between 1956 and 1965, aged 40-49
Baby Busters: those born between 1966 and 1976, aged 30-39, also known as Generation X.

Hey, pretty convenient how each of those is a decade!
posted by breath at 2:35 PM on December 6, 2005

Whoops, forgot to change the 1992 to 2005 in the 'Progressives' line.
posted by breath at 2:35 PM on December 6, 2005

See the Time Page for more on the Strauss/Howe definitions of American generations, right back to Colonial days.

(Personally, I have trouble with any "generation" defined as being only 10 years. Generations aren't 10 years.)
posted by litlnemo at 3:54 PM on December 6, 2005

'The Roaring Twenties' is not the name of a generation, it's the name of a decade. You might call the generation that was in their prime during that time 'The Lost Generation' (origin: Gertrude Stein, referring to Hemingway and his pals).
posted by bingo at 4:42 PM on December 6, 2005