Your generation, explained.

Generation Z

Born 1997–2012

Touchscreens, new connections, and a story still unfolding.

Generation Z covers 1997–2012 in our calculator, following Millennials and preceding Gen Alpha. Its timeline includes the arrival of the iPhone, the first iPad, and a console that could jump from the television to your hands. There is plenty to explore beyond the nickname.

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Born between

1997to2012

Birthdays in 202614–29 years old

Comes afterMillennials

Comes nextGen Alpha

The bigger picture.

In 2007, the oldest Gen Z members turned ten and the youngest had not yet been born. By 2020, the same range covered people turning eight through 23. Those snapshots help explain why a Gen Z conversation can include both childhood memories and accounts of starting adult life.

This cohort’s history is still developing. Mobile devices, school experiences, entertainment, and the pandemic provide shared reference points, while each person brings a different route through them. The useful question is often what an event looked like at a particular age, in a particular place.

What shaped this generation?

A web that could travel

The first iPhone went on sale in the U.S. in 2007, combining a phone, music player, and web access. Mobile connectivity became a prominent feature of the period.

A pandemic at different ages

WHO characterized COVID-19 as a pandemic on March 11, 2020. For this cohort, that year spanned elementary school ages through early adulthood, with very different daily responsibilities.

Games beyond one screen

Nintendo Switch arrived in 2017 with television and handheld modes. Its design makes a useful cultural marker for an era of entertainment moving between devices and places.

A few moments
in the timeline.

The same moment can mean different things at different ages.

2007
The first iPhone arrives
The U.S. retail launch was June 29. The oldest people in this cohort turned ten that year.
2010
The iPad reaches stores
The original Wi-Fi iPad launched in the U.S. on April 3. Its larger touchscreen provided another way to read, browse, and play.
2017
Nintendo Switch launches
The console debuted on March 3. Players could connect it to a television or carry the same system in their hands.
2020
A global pandemic
On March 11, WHO described COVID-19 as a pandemic. This became a major historical marker across many generations.

A little time capsule.

Tap, flick, pinch

Those gestures were central to the original iPhone’s interface. Looking back at that device shows how everyday ways of operating a screen have their own history.

Your turn, anywhere

The Switch’s detachable Joy-Con controllers made it possible to share controls for supported multiplayer games. A small piece of hardware could change how a game night worked.

The ordinary-day archive

An old class timetable, game screenshot, or favorite playlist can capture the period more personally than a headline. Date it, and it becomes a tiny piece of history.

There’s more to the story.

Sixteen birth years

1997–2012 includes sixteen calendar years. The first and last birth years are fifteen years apart.

The year 2000 belongs here

Someone born in 2000 is Gen Z in this calculator, despite the everyday association between that date and the word millennium.

One event, several life stages

In 2020, the youngest Gen Z members turned eight and the oldest turned 23. Both ends belong to the same range.

A few good questions.

Is 1997 a Millennial birth year?

Here it is the first Gen Z birth year. Millennials end in 1996 under the convention used by this calculator.

Why does Gen Z end in 2012 here?

That endpoint appears in sources including Statistics Canada. Pew’s 2019 explanation establishes the 1997 start but does not specify a final Gen Z birth year.

Can a Gen Z person relate to Millennials?

Of course. Siblings, friends, entertainment, and hand-me-down objects connect neighboring age groups. A birth-year result can coexist with those overlapping memories.

Keep exploring.

The generation beforeMillennials 1981–1996 The generation afterGeneration Alpha 2013–2024

Gen Z vs. Millennials

Where one generation ends, the next begins, and comparisons get complicated.

Read the guide

Born on the cusp?

Why you might relate to two generations—and why that makes perfect sense.