I’d say if you remember 9/11 and its impact then you make the cut-off. So maybe about 28-ish, give or take? I think some people claim the other end starts as early as born '79 so there may be a few 47 y.o.s who identifiy as one too.
Thats usually my cut off too, but im 29 and definitely dont remember 9/11. I dont remember a lot of things from back then, but ive definitely grown up in and only known a post patriot act world
It does do that. I just had a door to door salesman stop by and ask for my parents. I’m thirty, and have always looked old for my age. Sadly, he still read me as a guy, but I’m still only a few months in.
I’m not sure when the Wikipedia page for “generations” was implemented, but I have a feeling the current generational definitions have been defined a lot longer than the past 5 years. Unless your parents are post-end ww2 baby boomers, I see no way for you to have ever been technically considered gen-y.
That being said, I feel like culturally, it wasn’t really until the massive uptick in school shootings (I’m also making a big assumption that you’re American, here) that gen-z was really defined. From memory, I think the high profile Columbine shooting happened in 1999-2001, but school shootings weren’t really considered commonplace until at the earliest the late 2000s, or even early 2010s.
Assuming they weren’t held back in school, the youngest millennial would still have been in highschool until 2014, maybe 2015. Compare that to the oldest millennial, who would have potentially graduated highschool in 1999, maybe 1998.
And since you aren’t even 30 yet (let’s assume 29), that would have the earliest you’d have been slated to graduate highschool at 2014, making you solidly in the shooter generation, gen-z. Again, though, this is assuming you’re American, and the only real culture and history I’m remotely familiar with.
Counterpoint b, though, a lot of people considered people “growing up around the turn of the millennium” to be a millennial. Sooo, yeah. Culturally, sure, close enough, I guess. But technically, nah.
Honestly, it just boils down to how the words “millennial” and “genZ” had their meanings negotiated and decided. The way we were defining Millennials in 2015 was different from how we define them in 2026.
Generations are less about describing an easily definable age cohort, as people are being born every day. Rather, like you pointed out, they’re more about defining cultural experience.
All the millennials I know have just barely turned 30.
As of 2026, millennials span 45-30 years old, give or take a year in each direction because of birth month/day.
So you must know only the absolute youngest millennials.
I’d say if you remember 9/11 and its impact then you make the cut-off. So maybe about 28-ish, give or take? I think some people claim the other end starts as early as born '79 so there may be a few 47 y.o.s who identifiy as one too.
Thats usually my cut off too, but im 29 and definitely dont remember 9/11. I dont remember a lot of things from back then, but ive definitely grown up in and only known a post patriot act world
I spent my teenage years being called a Millennial, and I’m not even 30 yet. Only in the last ~5ish years have I started to be considered GenZ.
It’s like I’m aging forward, and getting younger, at the same time (admittedly, the Estrogen helps a bit with that ¯_(ツ)_/¯)
It does do that. I just had a door to door salesman stop by and ask for my parents. I’m thirty, and have always looked old for my age. Sadly, he still read me as a guy, but I’m still only a few months in.
I’m not sure when the Wikipedia page for “generations” was implemented, but I have a feeling the current generational definitions have been defined a lot longer than the past 5 years. Unless your parents are post-end ww2 baby boomers, I see no way for you to have ever been technically considered gen-y.
That being said, I feel like culturally, it wasn’t really until the massive uptick in school shootings (I’m also making a big assumption that you’re American, here) that gen-z was really defined. From memory, I think the high profile Columbine shooting happened in 1999-2001, but school shootings weren’t really considered commonplace until at the earliest the late 2000s, or even early 2010s.
Assuming they weren’t held back in school, the youngest millennial would still have been in highschool until 2014, maybe 2015. Compare that to the oldest millennial, who would have potentially graduated highschool in 1999, maybe 1998.
And since you aren’t even 30 yet (let’s assume 29), that would have the earliest you’d have been slated to graduate highschool at 2014, making you solidly in the shooter generation, gen-z. Again, though, this is assuming you’re American, and the only real culture and history I’m remotely familiar with.
Counterpoint b, though, a lot of people considered people “growing up around the turn of the millennium” to be a millennial. Sooo, yeah. Culturally, sure, close enough, I guess. But technically, nah.
Honestly, it just boils down to how the words “millennial” and “genZ” had their meanings negotiated and decided. The way we were defining Millennials in 2015 was different from how we define them in 2026.
Generations are less about describing an easily definable age cohort, as people are being born every day. Rather, like you pointed out, they’re more about defining cultural experience.
don’t blink.