{"success":true,"version":"v1","request":{"tool":"get_calculator_schema","calculator_id":"generation-by-birth-year"},"result":{"entity_type":"calculator","id":"generation-by-birth-year","calculator_id":"generation-by-birth-year","canonical_url":"https://tttkmbb.com/everyday/generation-by-birth-year","name":"Generation by Birth Year Calculator","title":"Generation by Birth Year – Boomer, Gen X, Millennial, Gen Z or Gen Alpha (Pew Research)","category":"everyday","category_name":"Everyday Life","tool_name":"classify_generation_by_birth_year","featured_mcp_tool":false,"description":"Classifies a birth year into its named generation using the Pew Research Center birth-year boundaries (Silent 1928–1945, Baby Boomers 1946–1964, Generation X 1965–1980, Millennials 1981–1996, Generation Z 1997–2012), extended with the Lost and Greatest generations and McCrindle's Generation Alpha and Beta, and reports the age reached in a reference year and the position within the generation.","use_when":"You need the named generation for a birth year, its year range and neighbours, whether the person is early, mid or late in the cohort, or how old that generation is in a given year.","do_not_use_when":"You need an exact age in years, months and days (use age) or a zodiac sign (use zodiac); generation boundaries are research conventions that differ by a few years between sources, so do not treat them as official.","inputs":[{"name":"birth_year","label":"Birth year","type":"integer","required":true,"min":1883,"max":2039,"description":"Year of birth, 1883–2039.","example":1990},{"name":"reference_date","label":"Reference date","type":"date","required":false,"default":"today","description":"Date whose year is used for the age; defaults to the current UTC date.","example":"2026-09-24"}],"outputs":[{"name":"generation","label":"Generation","type":"string","decimals":4,"description":"Name of the generation."},{"name":"generation_years","label":"Birth years","type":"string","decimals":4,"description":"First–last birth year of the generation, e.g. 1981–1996."},{"name":"age_in_reference_year","label":"Age in reference year","type":"integer","unit":"years","decimals":4,"description":"Year of reference_date − birth_year (the age reached during that year; negative if not yet born)."},{"name":"position_in_generation","label":"Position","type":"string","decimals":4,"description":"Early, Mid or Late (thirds of the generation's span), with a cusp note in the first or last two years."},{"name":"neighbouring_generations","label":"Neighbours","type":"string","decimals":4,"description":"The generations immediately before and after, with their years."},{"name":"generation_age_range","label":"Ages of the generation","type":"string","decimals":4,"description":"Youngest–oldest age of the whole generation in the reference year."},{"name":"source_note","label":"Definition source","type":"string","decimals":4,"description":"Whose boundaries define this generation."}],"input_schema":{"type":"object","properties":{"birth_year":{"description":"Year of birth, 1883–2039.","type":"integer","minimum":1883,"maximum":2039,"examples":[1990]},"reference_date":{"description":"Date whose year is used for the age; defaults to the current UTC date.","type":"string","format":"date","default":"today","examples":["2026-09-24"]}},"additionalProperties":false,"required":["birth_year"]},"output_schema":{"type":"object","properties":{"generation":{"description":"Name of the generation.","type":"string"},"generation_years":{"description":"First–last birth year of the generation, e.g. 1981–1996.","type":"string"},"age_in_reference_year":{"description":"Year of reference_date − birth_year (the age reached during that year; negative if not yet born). Unit: years.","type":"integer","x-unit":"years"},"position_in_generation":{"description":"Early, Mid or Late (thirds of the generation's span), with a cusp note in the first or last two years.","type":"string"},"neighbouring_generations":{"description":"The generations immediately before and after, with their years.","type":"string"},"generation_age_range":{"description":"Youngest–oldest age of the whole generation in the reference year.","type":"string"},"source_note":{"description":"Whose boundaries define this generation.","type":"string"}}},"formula":"generation = range containing birth_year: Lost 1883–1900, Greatest 1901–1927, Silent 1928–1945, Baby Boomers 1946–1964, Generation X 1965–1980, Millennials 1981–1996, Generation Z 1997–2012, Generation Alpha 2013–2024, Generation Beta 2025–2039; age_in_reference_year = year(reference_date) − birth_year; position: f = (birth_year − first_year + 0.5) / span → Early (f < 1/3), Mid, Late (f ≥ 2/3)","method":"Silent through Generation Z use the Pew Research Center boundaries (Generation Z end year 2012); Lost and Greatest follow the Wikipedia 'Generation' overview; Generation Alpha is started in 2013 so that the timeline has no gap after Pew's Generation Z (McCrindle, who coined the name, uses 2010–2024) and Generation Beta 2025–2039 follows McCrindle. People born within a year or two of a boundary are commonly described as being on the cusp.","sources":[{"name":"Pew Research Center (2019) Defining generations: Where Millennials end and Generation Z begins","url":"https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2019/01/17/where-millennials-end-and-generation-z-begins/","type":"reference","retrieved_at":"2026-09-24"},{"name":"McCrindle – Understanding Generation Alpha (Generation Alpha 2010–2024, Generation Beta 2025–2039)","url":"https://mccrindle.com.au/article/topic/generation-alpha/generation-alpha-defined/","type":"reference","retrieved_at":"2026-09-24"},{"name":"Generation – named Western generations and their birth-year ranges (Wikipedia)","url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Generation","type":"reference","retrieved_at":"2026-09-24"}],"freshness":{"type":"daily","max_age_seconds":86400,"note":"Depends on the current date unless the date is supplied."},"examples":[{"name":"Born 1990, reference year 2026","inputs":{"birth_year":1990,"reference_date":"2026-09-24"},"expected":{"generation":"Millennials","generation_years":"1981–1996","age_in_reference_year":36,"position_in_generation":"Mid","neighbouring_generations":"Preceded by Generation X (1965–1980); followed by Generation Z (1997–2012)","generation_age_range":"30–45"},"url":"https://tttkmbb.com/api/v1/calculate/generation-by-birth-year?birth_year=1990&reference_date=2026-09-24"},{"name":"Born 2005, reference year 2026","inputs":{"birth_year":2005,"reference_date":"2026-09-24"},"expected":{"generation":"Generation Z","generation_years":"1997–2012","age_in_reference_year":21,"position_in_generation":"Mid","generation_age_range":"14–29"},"url":"https://tttkmbb.com/api/v1/calculate/generation-by-birth-year?birth_year=2005&reference_date=2026-09-24"}],"faq":[{"q":"Why do other sources give different years?","a":"There is no official standard. Pew's boundaries are the most cited in the US press; McCrindle uses uniform 15-year spans (e.g. Generation Z 1995–2009), and the US Census Bureau only defines the Baby Boom (1946–1964)."},{"q":"What about Xennials or Zillennials?","a":"They are informal micro-generations on the cusps (roughly 1977–1983 and 1993–1998). This tool flags the first and last two years of each generation as cusp years instead."}],"tags":["generation calculator","what generation am i","millennial or gen z","birth year generation","gen alpha years"],"related":[{"calculator_id":"age","reason":"Exact age in years, months and days."},{"calculator_id":"zodiac","reason":"Western and Chinese zodiac signs for a birth date."}],"links":{"html":"https://tttkmbb.com/everyday/generation-by-birth-year","markdown":"https://tttkmbb.com/everyday/generation-by-birth-year.md","json":"https://tttkmbb.com/everyday/generation-by-birth-year.json","api":"https://tttkmbb.com/api/v1/calculate/generation-by-birth-year","schema":"https://tttkmbb.com/api/v1/calculators/generation-by-birth-year","openapi":"https://tttkmbb.com/openapi.json","mcp":"https://tttkmbb.com/mcp"},"version":"v1","updated_at":"2026-09-24"},"timestamp":"2026-09-24T03:46:14Z"}