Cultural Generations of the Last 100 Years

Every generation stamps its distinct signature on the world. Each cultural group reflects its own ideas, behaviors, expectations, work ethics and values. Over the decades sociologists, media and historians have studied, defined and labeled these significant cultural and generational demographics. Sociologists sometimes disagree over the precise timeline dates and every trend does not fit every person. Every so often a new category slips into the mix.  While many folks in the Greatest Generation are no longer alive, there are still six unique generations that live and work together in the world today.


Note: The list below depicts the dates each generation was born, and a sampling of similar experiences, events and pop culture shared by each group as their lives progress.

Which generation are you?

The Greatest Generation: born during 1900-1920: Fought in World War I and WWII, Great Depression, Stock market collapse of 1929; bread lines


The Silent Generation:  born between 1920 and 1945; fought in World War II, Victory gardens, quiet, hard-working traditionalists, Rosie the Riveter, parents of early baby boomers


Baby Boomer:  born between 1945-1964; Howdy Doody, radical 1960s counterculture; civil rights, equality for women, rock and roll, Woodstock, the Beatles, Elvis, Vietnam, first man on the moon, JFK


Generation Jones: born between 1954-1965; term coined by Jonathan Pontell to define group in between baby boomers and Gen Xers; early computer pioneers like Bill Gates, conspicuous consumption, first Yuppies, Pong, Jiffy Pop, Forest Gump


Generation X: born between 1965-1977; fall of Berlin Wall; children of baby boomers; self reliant, individualistic, cynical outsiders, latch key kids, remote control, hate rules, dislike authority, MTV, home computer, video games, hip hop, Desert Storm, grunge music, cable TV, slackers

Generation Y (Millennials): born between 1978-1995; Technology Revolution, Transformers, Tickle Me Elmo, cell phones, Google, IPods, Iraq War, 9-11 Attack, Gay rights, Spice Girls, Eminem, sunny confident, optimistic, team players, overindulged by parents, rule followers, close to their parents


Generation Z (Internet Generation): born between 1995-2010; Hurricane Katrina, Jonas Brothers, grew up on Internet, expected to be individualistic, self directed, excell at rapid information processing, place less priority on work, multitaskers, green environmentalists Sphere: Related Content