List of Generations

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Generations are brief periods of time that are connected with pop cultures throughout the world. Many characteristics of these generations are the music, fads, inventions, and wars specific to each period of time. Each generation is categorized by the general birth years of the people within the generation.

20th century America and Europe

The Lost Generation was a term originally used to identify a group of American literary expatriates living in Paris in the 1920s and 1930s; it is now used more generally to describe the generation of young people who came of age in the United States during and shortly after World War I.

The Silent Generation was the generation born between the two World Wars, who were too young to join the service when the war started. Many had fathers that served in World War I. (1925-1945)

The Greatest Generation is the worldwide generation of Allies that served in World War II. This group overlaps with the G.I. Generation, the generation of Americans that fought and won World War II, later to become the Establishment, and the parents of children who would later become the Baby Boomers.

The Baby Boomers were the generation born during or just after WWII; there was a worldwide increase in birthrate for about 14 years (1945-1965).

The Baby Busters were born during the time period in which the birthrate caused by the baby boomers began to decline (1953-1965).

Generation Jones is the group of people born in between the Baby Busters and Generation X (1964-1970). Many in this group share a pop culture knowledge common to both groups.

Generation X is the generation born after the Baby Boomers, excluding the Baby Busters and the Second Lost Generation. Most of this generation are children of Baby Boomers. They tended to grow up with video games and MTV, and spent most of their teen years in the 1980s. (1969-1982)

Generation XY, also known as the MTV Generation or Doom Generation, was caught between the end of Generation X and start of Generation Y, mainly living out their childhood through the '80s and teen years in the mid-'90s. This generation was influenced by the launch of MTV, and the remainder of Generation X. (1975-1981).

Generation Why was a sub-group of Generation Y, growing up in the '90s and early 2000s, whose emergent experiences straddled the Cold War/Space Age and Internet eras. In many ways more connected to the G.I. Generation than other recent generations, this group came of age in the period directly following the September 11th attacks. (1982-1985)

Generation Y, also known as the Echo Boom, Millennium Generation or Generation Xbox, grew up with many world-changing events including the rise of mass communication and the Internet. (1976-2001 widest possible definition commonly cited)

iGeneration, the Internet generation, is a subgeneration for the latter half of Generation Y (1985-1999) and the first half of Generation Z (1995-2005).

Generation Z, youngest of the generations thus far, is likely to live in a stricter world than their Generation X or Y counterparts, due to Generation Y's experiences with school shootings and the September 11th attacks. (1995-?)

Asian-Americans

Issei Japanese Americans are first-generation Japanese Americans who arrived in the United States before the Immigration Act of 1924.

Nisei Japanese Americans are second-generation, American-born citizens of the United States of Japanese ancestry, who generally reached adulthood by the outbreak of World War II.

Sansei Japanese Americans are third-generation Japanese-Americans, most of whom were born during the baby boom after the end of World War II, and the children of the Nisei Japanese Americans.

List of Generations Chart

{| class="wikitable" ! Century || Era || Generation || Sub-Generations || Time Table || Notable Occurrences |- |rowspan="4"| 19th Century |- |rowspan="6"| Missionary Awakening (American Civil War and Industrial Revolution) |- |Progressive Generation || || 1843 - 1859 || Introduction of the Lightbulb/Industrial Revolution |- |Missionary Generation || || 1860 - 1882 || American Civil War, Reconstruction, Dawn of the Automobile |- |rowspan="12"| 20th Century |- |rowspan="2"| Lost Generation || World War I Generation || 1883 - 1900 || Experienced WWI in adulthood |- | Interbellum Generation || 1901 - 1910 || Roaring 20's |- |rowspan="4"| American High (Great Depression and World War II) |- |rowspan="2"| Greatest Generation || G.I. Generation || 1911 - 1924 || Experienced WWII in adulthood |- | Silent Generation || 1925 - 1942 || Experienced WWII in childhood |- | Baby Boomers || || 1943 - 1956 || Civil Rights Movement |- |rowspan="5"| Consciousness Revolution (Vietnam War / Counterculture / Cold War) |- |rowspan="2"| Baby Busters || Beat Generation || 1957 - 1968 || First modern "subculture" |- | Generation Jones || 1969 - 1971 || Rise of the Arcade/Atomic Age |- |rowspan="2"| Generation X || MTV Generation || 1971 - 1980|| Rise of Mass Media/end of the Cold War |- | Boomerang Generation || 1981 - 1985|| Rise of Mass Media/end of the Cold War |- |rowspan="6"| 21st Century |- |rowspan="5"| Culture Wars |- |rowspan="3"| Generation Y |- | Echo Boom || 1986 - 1994|| ''Dawn of the 21st Century |- | iGeneration || 1995 - 2001 || Rise of the Information Age/Internet |- | Generation Z || || 2001 - 2025 || Wars on Terrorism/Globalization |-

This graph is based on birth years. The major events on the list happen at some time within 30 years of each generation's birthdates, usually something very significant to the pop culture of the generation. Generation Y is placed in the 21st Century because even the youngest members of the generation had not yet entered high school when the new millennium began.

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