#1962: Generations explain

“Generations” are arbitrary. They’re just labels we use to obliquely talk about cultural trends.

But since Pew Research has become the latest to weigh in, and everyone loves a good pointless argument over definitions…

xkcd presents

A Definitive Chronology of the Generations

1730-1747 The Founders

1748-1765 Generation ƒ

1766-1783 The Adequate Generation

1784-1801 Generation Æ

1802-1819 The generation we cut a lot of slack because they produced Lincoln

1820-1837 The Gilded Generation

1838-1855 The Second-Greatest Generation

1856-1873 Generation – • • –

1874-1891 The kids who died in the Gilded Generation’s factories and mines

1892-1909 Oops, one of us is Hitler

1910-1927 The Greatest Generation

1928-1945 The Silent Generation

1946-1963 Baby Boomers

1964-1981 Generation X

1982-1999 Millennials

2000-2017 Generation 💅 [nail polish emoji]

2018-2035 Zuckerberg’s army

2036-2053 The Hovering Ones

2054-2071 Spare Parts

2072-2089 More Gen-Xers somehow

2090-2107 The Paperclip Machines

2108-2125 The Mixed Bag (produced 4 Lincolns, 1 Napoleon and 2 Hitlers)

2126-2143 The Procedural Generation

2144-2161 Generation Ω

2360-2378 Star Trek: The Next Generation