Millennials Millennials Millennials, also known as Generation Y or Gen Y, are the generational demographic cohort following Generation X and preceding Generation Z. There are no precise dates for when this cohort starts or ends; demographers and researchers typically use the early 1980s as starting birth years and the mid-1990s to early 2000s as ending birth years. Millennials are sometimes referred to as "echo boomers" due to a major surge in birth rates in the 1980s and 1990s, and because millennials are often the children of the baby boomers. Although millennial characteristics vary by region, depending on social and economic conditions,
Generation X this demographic cohort saying, "Over 30 years after their birthday, they didn't have a name. I think that's germane." Previously, the cohort had been referred to as Post-Boomers, Baby Busters, New Lost Generation, latchkey kids, MTV Generation, and the 13th Generation (the 13th generation since American independence). Generation X is the demographic cohort following the post–World War II baby boom, representing a generational change from the baby boomers, but there is debate over this because the end-date of the baby-boomer generation is disputed. Research from MetLife, examining the boomers, split their cohort into "older boomers", which they defined as born