About Generation Mingle

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What’s in a Generational Name?

From Baby Boomers to Gen Z, the names we give generations carry weight — sometimes more than the people who wear them realize.

The post–World War II population surge earned those born between 1946 and 1964 the title Baby Boomers. Millennials, whose oldest members came of age around the year 2000, got their label from the new millennium itself. While these names stuck, not everyone believes they capture the full story of a generation.

The Problem with Labels

Social researcher Mark McCrindle, who has spent years studying demographic shifts, argues that generational names can feel outdated.

“A label that lasts decades but is tied to one early moment in life doesn’t always age well,” he explains. For Millennials, the millennium may have been relevant at 18, but in 2024 it’s just a footnote in their lives.

McCrindle has firsthand experience in shaping generational identity — he’s credited with naming Generation Alpha, the children of Millennials born between 2010 and 2024.

Why Blank Names Work Best

According to McCrindle, the most effective labels are the ones that start as “blank pages.” Names like Gen X and Gen Z didn’t come loaded with assumptions — they left room for people to define themselves. “More important than the name we give a generation,” he says, “is the name it makes for itself.”

Who Decides?

No official committee assigns these titles. Instead, authors and social theorists often set the terms. Neil Howe and William Strauss, for example, coined Millennials in their 1991 book Generations. They wanted an optimistic label, reflecting how this group was raised and the fact they’d be the first high school seniors to graduate in the year 2000.

The name Gen X is usually attributed to Canadian writer Douglas Coupland, who used it in his 1991 novel Generation X: Tales for an Accelerated Culture. Gen Z naturally followed, keeping the sequence alive.

Moving Into the Greek Alphabet

When McCrindle surveyed the public about what to call the children born after Gen Z, suggestions leaned heavily on technology themes — names like “iGen” or “Digital Gen.” He pushed back.

“This is the first cohort to grow up fully digital, but it’s also a global generation living through uncertainty,” he says. “We’re not cycling back — this is a new reality.”

His solution? Borrow from science. Using the Greek alphabet, today’s children became Gen Alpha. Following that sequence, the next three cohorts will likely be known as Gen Beta, Gen Gamma, and Gen Delta.

A Field That’s Growing Up

For McCrindle, the rise of generational naming isn’t just pop culture anymore. “Generational analysis has become a serious field within sociology,” he says. “Having structured names adds rigor and helps us plan for the future.”

Whether or not the labels last forever, they serve a purpose: giving us a framework to understand where we’ve been, and maybe even a glimpse of where we’re headed.