List of generations
Western world
For the purposes of this list "Western world" can be taken to mean North America, Europe, South America, and Oceania. However, it should also be noted that many variations may exist within the regions, both geographically and culturally which mean that the list is broadly indicative, but necessarily very general. For details see the individual articles.
- The Lost Generation, also known as the Generation of 1914 in Europe,[19] is a term originating with Gertrude Stein to describe those who fought in World War I. The members of the lost generation were typically born between 1883 and 1900.
- The Greatest Generation, also known as the G.I. Generation, is the generation that includes the veterans who fought in World War II. They were born from around 1901 through 1924, coming of age during the Great Depression. Journalist Tom Brokaw dubbed this the Greatest Generation in a book of the same name.[20]
- The Silent Generation, also known as the "Lucky Few", were born from 1925 until 1942.[21] It includes most of those who fought theKorean War and many during the Vietnam War.
- The Baby Boomers are the generation that was born following World War II, generally from 1943 up to the early 1960s, a time that was marked by an increase in birth rates. The term "baby boomer" is sometimes used in a cultural context. Therefore, it is impossible to achieve broad consensus on a defined start and end date.[22] The baby boom has been described variously as a "shockwave"[23] and as "the pig in the python".[24] In general, baby boomers are associated with a rejection or redefinition of traditional values; however, many commentators have disputed the extent of that rejection, noting the widespread continuity of values with older and younger generations. In Europe and North America boomers are widely associated with privilege, as many grew up in a time of affluence.[23] One of the features of Boomers was that they tended to think of themselves as a special generation, very different from those that had come before them. In the 1960s, as the relatively large numbers of young people became teenagers and young adults, they, and those around them, created a very specific rhetoric around their cohort, and the change they were bringing about.[25]
- Generation X, commonly abbreviated to Gen X, is the generation born after the Western Post–World War II baby boom. Demographers, historians and commentators use birth dates ranging from the early 1960s to the early 1980s.[26][27][28][29][30] The term has also been used in different times and places for a number of different subcultures orcountercultures since the 1950s.[31]
- "Millennials", also known as the Millennial Generation,[32] or "Generation Y", is the demographic cohort following Generation X. Commentators use birth dates ranging from the early 1980s to the early 2000s.[33][34][35]
- Generation Z is one name used for the cohort of people born after the Millennial Generation. There is no agreement on the exact dates of the generation with some sources starting it at the mid or late 1990s[32] or from the mid-2000s [36] to the present day. This is the generation that is currently being born.
