Generation Beta (Gen Beta) is the generation born from 2025 to 2039, following Generation Alpha (2010–2024). The name and years come from Australian researcher Mark McCrindle, whose generation labels are the most widely used. The oldest Gen Beta children were born in January 2025, and many will live to see the 22nd century.
| Generation | Birth years |
|---|---|
| Gen Z | 1997–2012 (Pew) / 1995–2009 (McCrindle) |
| Gen Alpha | 2010–2024 |
| Gen Beta | 2025–2039 |
| Gen Gamma (proposed) | 2040–2054 |
| Gen Delta (if the pattern continues) | about 2055–2069 |
If you or someone you know has had a baby since 2025, that child belongs to a generation with an official-sounding name already attached: Generation Beta. Here’s where the label actually comes from, what years it covers, and how settled (or not) the naming really is.
Who Named Generation Beta, and Why “Beta”?
The label comes from Mark McCrindle, an Australian social researcher and demographer who also coined “Generation Alpha” for children born between 2010 and 2024. When it came time to name the generation after Alpha, McCrindle moved to the Greek alphabet, giving us Beta next, with Gamma and Delta already proposed for the generations after that.
It’s a naming convention, not a scientific classification. There’s no governing body that officially certifies generational names, McCrindle’s labels have simply become the most widely cited framework, the same way “Millennial” and “Gen Z” became standard through repeated use rather than formal declaration.
Generation Beta Birth Years
Generation Beta covers children born from 2025 through 2039, a 15-year span matching the length McCrindle has used for recent generations. That means a child born in 2026 is squarely Gen Beta, and the label will keep applying to newborns for over a decade yet.
It’s worth being upfront that this end date, 2039, is a forward-looking estimate. Generation Beta has only just begun, so unlike Gen X or Millennials, whose ranges are now settled after decades of retrospective research, Beta’s boundaries could still shift slightly as researchers refine the definition over time.
What Comes After Generation Beta?
Following the same pattern, McCrindle has proposed Generation Gamma for children born 2040 to 2054, then Generation Delta after that. Whether these names stick the way Beta likely will is genuinely uncertain this far out, but the naming logic is at least consistent and easy to follow.
What Generation Am I?
If you’re trying to place yourself, a parent, or a child on the generational timeline, birth year is really all it takes, once you know the current accepted ranges. Our Generation Calculator takes a date of birth and instantly returns the matching generation, from the Silent Generation through Baby Boomers, Gen X, Millennials, Gen Z, Gen Alpha, and now Gen Beta, along with a quick note on how settled each label actually is.
If you’re curious about your generation alongside other milestones, like your exact age in years and months or which Chinese zodiac year you were born in, our Age Tools Hub covers those from the same starting point, a single date of birth.
Frequently Asked Questions
What generation is 2026?
A child born in 2026 is part of Generation Beta, which covers birth years 2025 through 2039 under Mark McCrindle’s naming framework.
What generation comes after Gen Alpha?
Generation Beta comes immediately after Generation Alpha, which covers birth years 2010 to 2024. Beta begins with children born in 2025.
Is “Generation Beta” an official name?
There’s no official body that names generations. Generation Beta is a proposed label from social researcher Mark McCrindle, the same person who named Generation Alpha. It has become the most widely used term for this cohort, but as with all generational labels, definitions can vary slightly between sources.
What does Generation Beta mean for the world?
It’s largely a marketing and social-research shorthand rather than a prediction. Broadly, McCrindle and other researchers expect Gen Beta to grow up even more immersed in AI and automation than Gen Alpha, but specific claims about a generation’s defining traits are necessarily speculative for a cohort that’s still being born.
Want to find your own generation, or a family member’s, in one click? Try the Generation Calculator.