You’re in the
Silent Generation
1928 to 1945born 1929
Position: early Silent Generation Cusp: Greatest cusp
Too young for the war, first in line for rock and roll.
Born in 1929: Silent Generation
In the Silent Generation (1928 to 1945), early Silent Generation, turning 97 in 2026. You’re on the cusp. 1929 is in the first 2 years of Silent, so some sources would file you under Greatest. Both are defensible; Pew’s line puts you here.
Your year, or any other
Born 1929: you’re in the Silent Generation (1928 to 1945), early Silent Generation. You’re on the cusp. 1929 is in the first 2 years of Silent, so some sources would file you under Greatest. Both are defensible; Pew’s line puts you here.
Read about the Silent Generation Compare with the Greatest Generation
Where 1929 sits
1929 is early Silent Generation: the early third of Silent runs 1928 to 1933. Pew Research Center range. Nearly every source agrees on 1928 to 1945, ending with the close of World War II.
Sources that draw the Silent line differently would file 1929 under The Greatest Generation. Both readings are defensible; this site uses Pew’s.
The Silent Generation is the cohort born from 1928 to 1945: too young to have fought in the Second World War, old enough to remember it, and raised during the Great Depression and the wartime home front. It is a small generation, because birth rates fell through the 1930s, and it came of age in the unusually prosperous 1950s. The label is one of the least accurate in the whole series: the people who supposedly kept quiet include most of the leaders of the civil rights movement, most of the founders of rock and roll, and the first wave of second-wave feminism. Read the full The Silent Generation page.
How old you were when…
Shared reference points, dated, so the generation label has something concrete behind it.
- born the year the Wall Street crash (1929)
- age 16 the Second World War ends (1945)
- age 40 the moon landing (1969)
- age 57 the Challenger disaster (1986)
- age 69 Google is founded (1998)
- age 78 the first iPhone goes on sale (2007)
- age 87 the Brexit vote and Donald Trump’s election (2016)
- age 95 the hottest year on record (2024)
Milestone birthdays
Someone born in 1929 turned 18 in 1947, 21 in 1950, 30 in 1959, 40 in 1969, 50 in 1979, 65 in 1994 and 80 in 2009. Next up: 100 in 2029.
Near 1929
Born in 1929: quick answers
What generation is someone born in 1929?
The Silent Generation (1928 to 1945) by the Pew Research Center definition. 1929 is early Silent Generation.
Is 1929 a cusp year?
Yes. You’re on the cusp. 1929 is in the first 2 years of Silent, so some sources would file you under Greatest. Both are defensible; Pew’s line puts you here.
How old is someone born in 1929?
96 or 97 in 2026, depending on whether the birthday has passed. Type the full date into the calculator for the exact age in years, months and days.