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What generation am I? Birth-year ranges for Gen X, millennials, Gen Z and Gen Alpha

2026-11-01

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Born in 1997 and not sure whether you are a millennial or Gen Z? You are not alone.

What generation am I is one of the most searched age questions, and the honest answer is that it depends a little on who drew the lines.

Here is the range most people quote, where the arguments start, and how old each group is in 2026.

The birth-year ranges most people use

▲ Pew Research ranges, with Gen Alpha from its usual definition

| Generation | Born | Age in 2026 | |---|---|---| | Baby boomers | 1946 to 1964 | 62 to 80 | | Gen X | 1965 to 1980 | 46 to 61 | | Millennials | 1981 to 1996 | 30 to 45 | | Gen Z | 1997 to 2012 | 14 to 29 | | Gen Alpha | 2013 to 2024 | 2 to 13 |

The first four ranges come from Pew Research Center, which picked 1996 as the last millennial year in 2019.

Pew has not given Gen Alpha an official range, so 2013 to 2024 is the common definition used after Gen Z ends.

The ages show the range after this year's birthday, so subtract one if yours has not happened yet.

So, the questions autocomplete asks most often:

• Born in 1980: the last Gen X year
• Born in 1997 or 1998: Gen Z on Pew's line
• Born in 2000: Gen Z
• Born in 2012: the last Gen Z year
• Born in 2013 or 2014: Gen Alpha

Why other sources give different years

▲ The cusp years are where sources split

Generations are not official categories. The US Census Bureau only defines one, the baby boom, as 1946 to 1964, because it is tied to a real jump in births. Every other line is a researcher's choice.

That is why you will see millennials start in 1980 or 1982 in some articles and Gen Z start in 1995 or 1996 in others.

Gen Alpha starts in 2010 in the work of Mark McCrindle, the researcher who named it.

Neither version is wrong. They are different rulers.

If you were born a year or two either side of a line, you are a cusp baby.

People born around 1993 to 1998 often call themselves zillennials, an informal label for growing up with both a landline and a smartphone.

Questions people ask

▲ The birth year is all the label needs

Am I a millennial if I was born in 1996? Yes, on Pew's ranges 1996 is the last millennial year.

What comes after Gen Alpha? Gen Beta, usually starting in 2025.

How do I check my exact age, not just my generation? The generation only needs your birth year.

For your exact age in years, months and days, open the Age Calculator on ZAGO.TO and enter your date of birth.

It also shows your next birthday and the weekday you were born on. It does not label generations, so use the table above for that part.

To compare ages across the family, add each birthday to the ZAGO.TO Age Calculator and keep them saved on your device.

Other tools: Days Until · Word Counter

Sources: Pew Research Center, "Defining generations" (2019); US Census Bureau, baby boom 1946 to 1964; McCrindle Research, Generation Alpha and Generation Beta definitions.