Generations

⚠ Big fuzziness indicator:

The mentioned years are often mentioned as birth years, but this makes limited sense for multiple reasons.

we mostly point at societal shifts, which are slow, and can be more about when they were widespread than when they started.

we are mostly influenced by these until after our formative years, which is probably largely our teens.

even then, the environment which influences you most will also vary, mostly with the people in it, and also with place (in sense of country, as wel as urban/rural distinction)

This makes the years fuzzy at best, probably easily by a decade, and slanting primarily in the later direction.

Various generation terms/associations are also relatively local.

And various are relatively western. There are more.

Baby boomers, a.k.a. boomers

from: 1946, when world war 2 and its related fears ended, and the world started building again
to: mid sixties

age as of 2020 is 55..75

associations:

rejection of traditional values, moderate optimism, social change, hippies

and, later, privilege from times of widespread government subsidies, wealth, consumerism, yuppies

See also: OK boomer

Generation X

from: early-to-mid sixties (Some specifically say 1961, pointing at the birth control pill, but the change in mindset of this generation probably came years after)
to: late seventies, early eighties

age as of 2020 is 40..55

grew up during the sexual revolution (see the pill, and also AIDS)
grew up during the civil rights movement(s) that started in the sixties. More diverse due to higher immigration and lower racism.
grew up before or during the shift to the internet
grew up with various recessions, global politics being weird
made less money than their parents, in part due to more money directed at pensions and such
higher divorce rate and both parents working meant less adult supervision, hence a.k.a. the "latchkey generation"
associations: (note: generalizing from the outside, not necessarily correct descriptions)

disaffected (though this was a general thing of the time as well), cynical, slackers

...yet also entrepeneurial, adapatable, less reliant, more fight for what you believe in

Grunge music, indie films.

Generation Y

less defined, arguably a handful of years, a "we hadn't decided on a new name yet" that got replaced by millenials
so sometimes known as old millenials (eighties)
and sometimes just millennials

Millenials

from: early eighties
to: mid-nineties, maybe 2000s

age as of 2020 is 20..40

it varies because some people have a stake in this

some people think/argue it's ongoing, having either not heard of Z, or not agreeing it's distinct enough

since GenZ is now a thing, it put and end date, so all millenials are now adults.

money more important and politics less (also true for X and Y, just more so)
more importance on a balance between work and life
made less money, largely due to the economic recession
prefer more horizontal company culture, creative outlet, feedback
more socially liberal, a little more engaged in social issues, surge of political correctness
associations: (note: generalizing from the outside, not necessarily correct descriptions)

grew up in a technological life, and liberal upbringing

more entitled and narcissistic

disaffected

yet also ways more confident, assertive, than X and Y.

Generation Z, a.k.a. zoomers, zennials

from: around 2000
to: now, or 2010ish if you want to describe to generation alpha already

age as of 2020 is 10..20

grew up during the economic recession, used to uncertainty
enterpreneurial, yet often in a post-american-dream
associations: (note: generalizing from the outside, not necessarily correct descriptions)

More adaptive to circumstance, but also more short-term focus.

a little more grounded than Y / millenial, out of necessity

high tech expectations; what earlier generations call a tech-saturated world is Z's baseline

high online image and footprint, and starts earlier. Grew up on the internet (dialup and dumbphones are before their time. There were terminally online people since Gen X, but that was more by choice)

Generation Alpha

from: around 2010 (first generation born in this century)
to: now

age as of 2020 is up to 10

seems to currently be used for demographics in studies and ad companies -- in that most everyone else is still on 'zoomer'

Note that pretty much all generations are the "kids these days" of their time.

That's how aging, consideration, projection, and labels used to distance works.

More specific ones

✎ This article/section is a stub — some half-sorted notes, not necessarily checked, not necessarily correct. Feel free to ignore, or tell me about it.

The US has, pre-boomer:

Lost Generation

from: ~1880s

to: ~1900

...because that makes them adolescents during the first world war

though also roughly behind the roaring twenties(verify)

also saw the spanish flu pandemic[1] (1918)

Greatest Generation (a.k.a. G.I. Generation)

~1900 to ~1925, so age as of 2020 is 95..120

shaped by the great depression, got shit done because it was necessary, with good practical, problem solving, and survival skills.

Silent Generation

~1928 to 1945, so age as of 2020 is 75..90