1946-1964 - Boomers
1965-1981 - Xers
1982-1994 - Yers
1995-2005+ Zers

Culture Periods:

1963-1981 Boomers
1982-1996 Xers
1997-2005+ Yers (est. end 2012)

You'll never get everyone to ever agree on this.  These generational labels have lost all their original meaning that was supposed to be about United States birth rates.  Now they are more cultural, or a cool way to market to a certain demographic.  And everyone all over the world uses them, regardless if they were originally supposed to about American birth rates.

The Baby Boomer culture period included the 1950s, you didn't even include that.

1946-1964- Boomers
1965-1982- X
1983-1999- Y
2000-2019?- Z

Cultural Periods

1958-1977 Boomers
1978-1996 X
1997-2014? Y
2015?- 20?? Z

You'll never get everyone to ever agree on this.  These generational labels have lost all their original meaning that was supposed to be about United States birth rates.  Now they are more cultural, or a cool way to market to a certain demographic.  And everyone all over the world uses them, regardless if they were originally supposed to about American birth rates.

The Baby Boomer culture period included the 1950s, you didn't even include that.


Actually I see the 50s as more the Silent Generation.  Someone born in 1946 ain't gonna remember much from 1953.

Actually I see the 50s as more the Silent Generation.  Someone born in 1946 ain't gonna remember much from 1953.


We're talking more late '50s probably. Boomers center on the '60s, xers center on the '80s, and y centers on the '00s.

You'll never get everyone to ever agree on this.  These generational labels have lost all their original meaning that was supposed to be about United States birth rates.  Now they are more cultural, or a cool way to market to a certain demographic.  And everyone all over the world uses them, regardless if they were originally supposed to about American birth rates.

The Baby Boomer culture period included the 1950s, you didn't even include that.


I think the "Boomers" was more in reference to babies born just after WW II ended, so 1946-50 was the core of it. This means those people were teens in the mid 60's, so it fits.

I also agree that there's a definite "shift" between the "average" person born in, say 1980 and 1985 (like I said, I got started early, so I don't count as average in that respect, LOL!) so I would tend to agree with the cutoff point of Generation X and Y being about 1982/83.

Technically, I would be the very tail end of Gen X (born September '81), but I started school a year late (went to 1st grade when I was 7 instead of 6 -- meaning I graduated in 2000 when I was 18 & a half), so I could probably squeak by as a Gen Y'er too.

I have a friend born in '82 who once asked me "What's a hair band?" (when we were in HS) yet strangely enough, I have alot of other friends born in the mid 80's who like and/or are more familiar with 80's culture. I have a theory on this - because someone born in like 1979-83 would've been just becoming an early teenager in the early 90's when the 80's backlash began, so in other words, the first thing they knew was that it was "cool" to not like the 80's.

But someone born in 1985 would've maybe not started getting super acquainted with culture/fashion/music until 1997 (but they could've started in 1995) and by then, even though the 80's were further away, they were more "old school" as opposed to the previous era getting made fun of, if that makes sense.

I think the "Boomers" was more in reference to babies born just after WW II ended, so 1946-50 was the core of it. This means those people were teens in the mid 60's, so it fits.

I also agree that there's a definite "shift" between the "average" person born in, say 1980 and 1985 (like I said, I got started early, so I don't count as average in that respect, LOL!) so I would tend to agree with the cutoff point of Generation X and Y being about 1982/83.

Technically, I would be the very tail end of Gen X (born September '81), but I started school a year late (went to 1st grade when I was 7 instead of 6 -- meaning I graduated in 2000 when I was 18 & a half), so I could probably squeak by as a Gen Y'er too.

I have a friend born in '82 who once asked me "What's a hair band?" (when we were in HS) yet strangely enough, I have alot of other friends born in the mid 80's who like and/or are more familiar with 80's culture. I have a theory on this - because someone born in like 1979-83 would've been just becoming an early teenager in the early 90's when the 80's backlash began, so in other words, the first thing they knew was that it was "cool" to not like the 80's.

But someone born in 1985 would've maybe not started getting super acquainted with culture/fashion/music until 1997 (but they could've started in 1995) and by then, even though the 80's were further away, they were more "old school" as opposed to the previous era getting made fun of, if that makes sense.


Marty, when did people start hating the 80s as opposed to being tired of it?  I know that even in 1989 people were getting tired of it, but when did they become "gay"?

I remember when I was a young kid though, the 80s were considered VERY VERY corny. People made fun of 80s music and hair and everything. But then all of a sudden back in 01/02 there was an EXPLOSION of neo-80s/retro culture. And its still going fairly strong now, although I think its died down a bit the last year.

I am a definite X-er with bigtime nostalgia for '80s pop culture(EEK! Did I just say that?).  I remember '70s pop culture but I'm more "interested" in it than "nostalgiac" for it.  I'm interested in ephemera specific to any time.  If I had to say I "identify" pop-culturally with any period, it would be late '70s to mid-'80s, later trailing and then suddenly curtailed in 1990.

Marty, when did people start hating the 80s as opposed to being tired of it?  I know that even in 1989 people were getting tired of it, but when did they become "gay"?


The 80s probably became "gay" as you say around 1992 or 1993.  That's sort of what I remember anyways.  When I started high school in the fall of 1989, the 80s were definately going out of style and people were tired of it.  It was still the 80s...the very late 80s...but it also wasn't if that makes any sense. 

To echo something along the lines of what Marty was saying about moving away from a certain era and it's backlash,....back in 1989 for instance I remember I first heard of the movie The Breakfast Club.  I didn't know what it was before because it came out earlier in the 80s when I was in 3rd or 4th grade.  Some kids thought it was a great movie, but I remember others thought they were too cool for it and groaned when The Breakfast Club or any Molly Ringwald film was brought up.  Basically because at that time in 1989, we were around 13 and 14 years old and some thought they were too cool for a movie that was 5 years out of date and from 1984.  Not many kids I knew wanted to watch a Brat Pack film at the time, just because everything about the 80s were going so out of style in the second half of 1989.  But now we're so far away from that, that film is thought of as a classic and most everyone likes it without fear of what other people will think.

The 80s probably became "gay" as you say around 1992 or 1993.  That's sort of what I remember anyways.  When I started high school in the fall of 1989, the 80s were definately going out of style and people were tired of it.  It was still the 80s...the very late 80s...but it also wasn't if that makes any sense. 

To echo something along the lines of what Marty was saying about moving away from a certain era and it's backlash,....back in 1989 for instance I remember I first heard of the movie The Breakfast Club.  I didn't know what it was before because it came out earlier in the 80s when I was in 3rd or 4th grade.  Some kids thought it was a great movie, but I remember others thought they were too cool for it and groaned when The Breakfast Club or any Molly Ringwald film was brought up.  Basically because at that time in 1989, we were around 13 and 14 years old and some thought they were too cool for a movie that was 5 years out of date and from 1984.  Not many kids I knew wanted to watch a Brat Pack film at the time, just because everything about the 80s were going so out of style in the second half of 1989.  But now we're so far away from that, that film is thought of as a classic and most everyone likes it without fear of what other people will think.


I think I finally understand what you mean, Chris, because I was (barely) old enough to truly understand the 90s to 2000s transition.  Maybe the 80s to 90s transition was faster, I don't know (you seem to be saying it was still the 80s for some in 1989-1991 and not for others), but stuff from 1999-summer of '01, while still "nineties" in terms of holdovers and vibe, in many ways feel more like the 2000s than the earlier, "beef" of the 90s.  Because the 2000s culture has it roots deep into the later 90s and the fact that 2000 was a new "millenium" and not just a new decade, I think, is the reason that the 90s wasn't suddenly cheesy and passe.  They could of become that way, I think, if the early Gen Yers born in the middle 1980s didn't get into the Boy Band/Internet culture in 1997.  I mean, the '85-born 12 year olds of 1997 probably assumed 1994 wasn't any different from 1997 and that there was Boy Bands, the Internet, and numetal everywhere since 1992 (of course to them 1990 and 1991 was still pure 80s  ;) ), which was for the most part untrue. 

To be honest, I don't think the 90s will ever be uncool.  They're simply forgotten by youth now (except for the last 2 or 3 years) and will probably go straight to being retro.

So to the point, 1999, 2000, and 2001 were still a bit nineties in feel but the attitude and fashion was very 2000s.  Just some of the bands, pop culture references, politics, and a few styles were still truly nineties-esque.  That might be the other way round with 80s to 90s actually but I don't know for sure.  Basically, it's a bit of a stretch for me to talk about Pokemon in the same breath as Power Rangers, much less Ninja Turtles (I know they were 80s too but I see them more as a very early 90s thing).

::) Personally, I think this generation labeling jibberish is all a bunch of marketing scams to get people to buy crap they don't need, and pretend to be cool, just to identify themselves with the rest of the world.  Okay, I guess I'm in in between X and Y because I was born in 2078 ;).  I keep hearing: 1961-1980, 1965-1982, 1965-1981, and 1965-1976 for X and 1981-1990, 1983-2000, even 1977-1994(which pretains to cultural and marketing labeling for Y)  Give it up people.......you are who you are and it doesn't matter what generation you came out of. There are good people and bad people, saints and sinners, past dwellers and future ponderers...of all ages.  Generation labeling has gotten way out of hand these days, and it all started with the baby boomers(my backwards baseball cap goes off to that era).  I share nothing and everything with Gen X and Y, so that makes me unique.  My parents were boomers, so I would be an echo-boomer(Y), but other silly-headed people say that I would be an Xer because I became man(came of age) in the end of the mid-90s.  Well pin a rose on my nose and sell me off at the state fair.  Personally, I like to go by birthrates and NOT culture, trends, and "fly" slang words...ya herrd.  Who's with me? 

Sorry Devo, I'm not dissin' your post......Whip It Good! ;D

::) Personally, I think this generation labeling jibberish is all a bunch of marketing scams to get people to buy crap they don't need, and pretend to be cool, just to identify themselves with the rest of the world.  Okay, I guess I'm in in between X and Y because I was born in 2078 ;).  I keep hearing: 1961-1980, 1965-1982, 1965-1981, and 1965-1976 for X and 1981-1990, 1983-2000, even 1977-1994(which pretains to cultural and marketing labeling for Y)  Give it up people.......you are who you are and it doesn't matter what generation you came out of. There are good people and bad people, saints and sinners, past dwellers and future ponderers...of all ages.  Generation labeling has gotten way out of hand these days, and it all started with the baby boomers(my backwards baseball cap goes off to that era).  I share nothing and everything with Gen X and Y, so that makes me unique.  My parents were boomers, so I would be an echo-boomer(Y), but other silly-headed people say that I would be an Xer because I became man(came of age) in the end of the mid-90s.  Well pin a rose on my nose and sell me off at the state fair.  Personally, I like to go by birthrates and NOT culture, trends, and "fly" slang words...ya herrd.  Who's with me? 


i'm with you. i despise pop cultures need to tag everything. actually i despise pop culture.

i'm with you. i despise pop cultures need to tag everything. actually i despise pop culture.


Ah how funny it would of been if, say, the renaisance, colonial, and industrial generations were to share this wonderful labeling experience, such as we do.  We took something of tradition and ancestory and turned it into a circus.... ::) (I can practically hear the carnival music right now)

Sorry Devo, I'm not dissin' your post......Whip It Good! ;D


;D