“GenXers” at a Glance
A rundown of temporal attributes and historical peers shared by many members of Gen X
As part of my ongoing “Jigsaw Gens” series, I profile the various American generations (and “microgenerations”) identified by historians.
Previous four editions:
Hemingrebels (“the Lost Generation”) at a glance
GI-Gens (“the Greatest Generation”) at a glance
Traditionalists (“the Silent Generation”) at a glance
Baby Boomers (“Leapers” or “Generation Jones”) at a glance
In this installment…
Featured Generation: “GenXers” (aka Gen X, Catalanos, Latchkeys, Baby Busters, Slackers, Disruptors)
Who they are: The fifth identified generation, christened by Canadian writer Douglas Coupland
When they were born: Approximately between 1966–1977
Key Members
Lawmakers: Hakeem Jeffries, Neil Gorsuch, Paul Ryan, Amy Coney Barrett, Tim Ryan, Ketanji Brown Jackson, Ted Cruz, Gina Raimondo, Marco Rubio, Chris Murphy, Nancy Mace, Ayanna Pressley, Marjorie Taylor Greene, Debbie Wasserman Schultz, Cathy McMorris-Rodgers, Ben Sasse, Ted Lieu, Cori Bush, James Lankford, Gavin Newsom, Liz Cheney, Kirsten Gillibrand, Tom Cotton, Nikki Haley, Ben Ray Luján, Cory Booker, Ro Khanna, Grace Meng, Will Hurd, Mike Garcia, Steven Horsford, Krisi Noem, Tammy Duckworth, Raphael Warnock, Joni Ernst, Rashida Tlaib, Katie Porter, Brian Fitzpatrick, Eleni Kounalakis, Veronica Escobar, Becca Balint, Patrick McHenry, Kyrsten Sinema, Jon Husted, Angie Craig, Wiley Nickel, Chris Sununu, Linda Sánchez, Marc Veasey, David Valadao, Steve Bullock, Markwayne Mullin, Tina Kotek, Cedric Richmond, Jeanette Nuñez, Todd Young, John Fetterman, Andre Carson, Rodney Davis, Mike Lee, Stephanie Murphy, Kelly Armstrong, Howie Morales, Derek Kilmer, Katie Hobbs, Alex Mooney, Michael Waltz, Jahana Hayes, Pamela Evette, Jamaal Bowman, Mary Peltola, Bobby Jindal, Elissa Slotkin, Nikki Budzinski, Sean Duffy, Joaquin Castro, Maura Healey, Jay Obernotle, Nanette Barragan, Mike Carey, Jill Tokuda, Shontel Brown, Alex Padilla, Stephanie Bice, Jared Polis, Scott Walker, Brendan Boyle, Ada Brown, Patrick J. Kennedy, David Toland
Literary Writers: Stephenie Meyer, John Green, Patrick Rothfuss, J.J. Abrams, Gina Prince-Bythewood, Sherman Alexie, Jhumpa Lahiri, Edwidge Danticat, Karen Lynch, Stephen Chbosky, Mark Z. Danielewski, Colson Whitehead, Seth MacFarlane, Rian Johnson, Jonathan Safran Foer, Curtis Sittenfeld, James Gunn, Taylor Sheridan, Danielle Allen, John Scalzi, Bill Konigsberg, Cynthia Leitich Smith, Julia Quinn, Brad Thor, Ernest Cline, Michelle McNamara, Kevin Kwan, Lisa Gardner, Sylvia Day, Gillian Flynn, Anthony Doerr, Brad Meltzer, Cheryl Strayed, Jeanine Cummins, Brett Hartinger, Mark Greaney, Jodi Picoult, David Treuer, Jim Butcher, Emily Griffin, Jack du Brul, Andy Weir, Michael Ledwidge, Kathryn Stockett, Brandon Sanderson
Journalists & Historians: Anderson Cooper, Lisa Ling, Jonah Goldberg, Nicolle Wallace, Jake Tapper, David Muir, Reza Aslan, Joy Ann Reid, Gretchen Carlson, Bill Weir, Savannah Guthrie, Kristen Welker, Sara Haines, Lara Spencer, Willie Geist, Stephen A. Smith, John Ziegler, Natalie Morales, Chris Cuomo, Stephanie Ruhle, Amy Robach, Melissa Harris-Parry, Don Lemon, Maggie Haberman, Glenn Greenwald, Norah O’Donnell, Julie Chen-Moonves, Kiran Chetry, Michelle Malkin, Tony Reali, Soledad O’Brien, Peter Marvin Alexander, Elizabeth Wurtzel, Grace Ji-Sun Kim, Ali Abunimah, Rosa Brooks, Keith Gessen, John Dickerson, Sam Husseini, Alisyn Camerota, Robert Kolker, Craig Whitlock, Jon Meacham, David Grann, Laura Hillenbrand
Scientists & Researchers: Dawn Shaughnessy, Rick Kittles, Tracie D. Hall, Manjul Bhargava, Debra Furr-Holden, Catherine A. Lozupone, Beth A. Brown, Adam Riess, Terence Tao, Ayanna Howard, Siddhartha Mukherjee, Alfredo Quiñones-Hinojosa, Joseph M. Acaba, Ilkay Altintas, Mayda Velasco, Ardem Patapoutian, Enectalí Figueroa-Feliciano, Aomawa Shields, Daniel Colón-Ramos, James McLurkin, Kim Cobb, Maryam Mirzakhani, Julia Clarke, Michael E. Brown, Noah Diffenbaugh, Barbara Cohen, Fei-Fei Li, David A. Kirby, Marc Lipsitch, Kari Nadeau, Priyamvada Natarajan, Erin Pettit, Angela Rasmussen, Mayly Sánchez, Anne Rimoin, Jason Samenow, Renã A.S. Robinson, Sally Kuhn Sennert, Beth Stevens, Charlotte Sumner, Ashani Weeraratna, Sarah T. Stewart-Mukhopadhyay, Nathan Wolfe, S. Joshua Swamidass, Amy Townsend-Small
Athletes: John Cena, Mary Lou Retton, Tom Brady, Mike Tyson, Peyton Manning, Laila Ali, Tony Hawk, Shaquille O’Neal, Mia Hamm, Andre Agassi, Brett Favre, Troy Aikman, Floyd Mayweather, Kristi Yamaguchi, Tito Ortiz, Deion Sanders, Nancy Kerrigan, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Emmitt Smith, Ken Griffey Jr., Ray Lewis, Terrell Owens, Lisa Leslie, Kimbo Slice, Herschel Walker, Johnny Knoxville, Dave Bautista, Steve McNail, Dominique Dawes, Brock Lesnar, Michael Irvin, Paul “Triple H” Levesque, Kevin Garnett, Pete Sampras, David Ortiz, Chris Jericho, Tim Duncan, Kurt Warner, Eddie Guerrero, Allen Iverson, Shannon Miller, Jason Kidd, Barry Sanders, Derek Jeter, Michael Duane Johnson
Entrepreneurs & Business Leaders: Elon Musk, Jennifer Lopez, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, Sheryl Sandberg, Marc Andreessen, Jenna Lyons, Salma Hayek, Tyler Perry, Alex Rodriguez, Gwyneth Paltrow, Larry Page, Sergey Brin, Padma Lakshmi, Céline Gounder, Sarah Kate Ellis, Rachael Ray, Cindy Crawford, Sundar Pichai, Reid Hoffman, Eric Ly, Jay-Z, Bethenny Frankel, Sean Sherman, Anna Nicole Smith, Jerry Yang, David Filo, Earl Cole, Matt Drudge, Kendra Scott, Andrew Yang, Lisa S. Jones, Rohan Oza, Grant Imahara, Larry Sanger, Jimmy Wales, Heidi Klum, Sal Khan, Beto Pérez, Michael Strahan, Guy Fieri, MacKenzie Scott, Biz Stone, Jack Dorsey, Brian Acton, Jan Koum, Lori Greiner, David Eagleman, Bisi Ezerioha, Thomas Reardon, Perry Chen, Reese Witherspoon, Alli Webb, Sean Combs, Giada De Laurentiis, Blake Mycoskie, Sofia Vergara, Daymond John, Eric Yuan, Cesar Millan, Nick Woodman, Chad Hurley, Tory Burch, Chris Sacca, Reshma Kewalramani, Troy Carter, Willie Robertson, Todd Chrisley, Anne Wojcicki, Sara Blakely, Philip “Pud” Kaplan, James Park, Daniel Lubetzky, Kat Nouri, Carolyn Hax, Marc Newburger, Jeffrey Simon, Tonya Matthews, Aaron Krause, Josh Marshall, Jim Goetz, Tara Brown, Margot Lee Shetterly, Jenny Lawson, John Tabis, Matt Higgins, Jennifer Baumgardner, Elina Fuhrman, Victor Vescovo, Window Snyder, Jorge Zamanillo
Activists & Organizers: Matthew Shepard, Tarana Burke, Julia Butterfly Hill, Ashley Judd, Shannon Watts, Nikole Hannah-Jones, Terry Crews, Joe Rogan, Laverne Cox, Stacey Abrams, Gabrielle Giffords, Tucker Carlson, Van Jones, Ana Navarro, Rebecca Walker, Cynthia Nixon, Imara Jones, Ryan White, Ben Crump, Karine Jean-Pierre, Jaclyn Friedman, Will Cain, Ayaan Hirsi Ali, Rachel Campos-Duffy, Ani DiFranco, Norah Vincent, Kimberly Guilfoyle, Ta-Nehisi Coates, Nekima Levy Armstrong, Kari Lake, Dana Perino, Michelle Alexander, Elisabeth Hasselbeck, Derek Chauvin, Andrea Tantaros, Kristen Clarke, Glennon Doyle, Kirk Cameron, Deborah Parker, Tobi Vail, Carrie Brownstein, Marcus Luttrell, Kimberly Teehee, Ariel Levy, Rebekah Mercer
Entertainers: Ricki Lake, Molly Ringwald, Leonardo DiCaprio, Kerry Washington, Margaret Cho, Pedro Pascal, Matthew Perry, Matt LeBlanc, David Schwimmer, Melissa McCarthy, Neil Patrick Harris, Taraji P. Henson, Dave Chappelle, Mario Lopez, Daniel Dae Kim, Nancy McKeon, Kim Fields, Mindy Cohn, Ryan Seacrest, Drew Barrymore, Matt Damon, Halle Berry, Ke Huy “Jonathan” Quan, Shemar Moore, Cameron Diaz, Will Ferrell, Ken Jeong, Paul Walker, Kiefer Sutherland, Tina Fey, Jaleel White, Fred Savage, Mo’Nique, Sarah Michelle Gellar, Angelina Jolie, Tracy Morgan, John Cho, Kelly Ripa, Luke Perry, Matthew McConaughey, Soleil Moon Frye, James Van Der Beek, Aisha Tyler, Chadwick Boseman, Marlee Matlin, Joaquin Phoenix, Calista Flockhart, Debra Messing, Sean Hayes, Lauren Graham, Norman Reedus, Rose McGowan, Shannen Doherty, Holly Marie Combs, Alyssa Milano, Ben Affleck, Gabrielle Union, Eva Longoria, Gary Coleman, Jon Hamm, Ryan Reynolds, Pauley Perrette, Michael Weatherly, Sean Murray, Octavia Spencer, Jamie Foxx, Emmanuel Lewis, Mark-Paul Gosselaar, Dean Cain, Alicia Silverstone, Melissa Joan Hart, Jim Parsons, Mayim Bialik, Johnny Galecki, Chelsea Handler, Pamela Anderson, Matthew Fox, Edward Norton, Wayne Brady, Nicole Kidman, Lucy Liu, Christina Applegate, John Cusack, Keri Russell, Wil Wheaton, Cuba Gooding Jr., Julia Roberts, Adam Sandler, Gillian Anderson, Brendan Fraser
Musicians: John Mayer, Tupac Shakur, Mariah Carey, Queen Latifah, Debbie Gibson, Ricky Martin, Steve Aoki, Common, Dave Grohl, Janet Jackson, Eminem, Gwen Stefani, Kanye West, Lauryn Hill, Selena, Ice Cube, Brad Paisley, Toni Braxton, LL Cool J, Fergie, Nick Lachey, Chynna Phillips, Wendy Wilson, Carnie Wilson, 50 Cent, Tionne Watkins, Lisa “Left Eye” Lopes, Rozanda “Chilli” Thomas, Marc Anthony, The Notorious B.I.G., Darius Rucker, Beck David Hansen, Kenny Chesney, Tim McGraw, Faith Hill, Montell Jordan, Joseph “Fat Joe” Cartagena, Mary J. Blige, will.i.am, Vanilla Ice, Lisa Marie Presley, Bret Michaels, Kristin Chenoweth, Dave Matthews, Nasir “Nas” Jones, Pharrell Williams, Liz Phair, Janice Robinson, Nathan Morris, Wanya Morris, Shawn Stockman, Brian McKnight, Keith Urban, Billie Joe Armstrong, Dawn Robinson, Snoop Dogg, Missy Elliott, Zack de la Rocha, Lil Jon, Mark Hoppus, Tom DeLonge, Travis Barker, Jenni Rivera, Scott Weiland, Idina Menzel, R. Kelly, Faith Evans, Busta Rhymes, Jason Aldean, DJ Khaled, Earl “DMX” Simmons, Kid Rock, Mark McGrath, Nelly, Erykah Badu, Shaggy, Jeff Buckley, Akon, Savion Glover, André 3000, Cheryl Renee James, Sandra Jacqueline Denton, Blake Shelton, Chester Bennington, Ludacris, John Frusciante, Hope Sandoval, Luke Bryan, Ramón “Daddy Yankee” Rodriguez, Luis Miguel, Billy Corgan
Visual Artists: Jon Favreau, Vanessa Beecroft, Kate Orff, Chris Ware, Gene Luen Yang, Carrie Ann Inaba, Wes Anderson, Christopher Nolan, Simone Leigh, Vita Von Teese, Matthew Barney, Kara Walker, Roxy Paine, Don Hertzfeldt, Shepard Fairey, Patrick McGrath Muñíz, Lesley Vance, John Ross Palmer, David Herbert, Carrie Ann Baade, Manuel Rivera-Ortiz, Dave Halili, Rachel Harrison, William Powhida, Ranu Mukherjee, Aaron Padilla, Jason D’Aquino, Letitia Huckaby, Pearl C. Hsiung, Becca Bernstein, Doug Aitken, Terrol Dew Johnson, Bob Coronato, Tim Lokiec, Fritz Haeg, Davyd Whaley, Amanda Matthews, Sedrick Huckaby, Vadis Turner, Harrell Fletcher, John Waguespack, Mathew Hintz, Eric Daigh, Gregg Deal, Joseph L. Erb
Cusp Cohorts
Preceding Microgeneration: “Generation Jones” (1961–1965)
Prominent “JonesGens”: Barack Obama, Whitney Houston, Michael Jordan, Quentin Tarantino, Jodie Foster, Leonard Leo, Eddie Murphy, Suzanne Collins, Tori Amos, Dan Marino, Brett Kavanaugh, Lenny Kravitz, Chris Rock, Sunita Williams, Rosie O’Donnell, Michael J. Fox, Garth Brooks, Jeff Bezos, David Foster Wallace, Michelle Obama, Kevin McCarthy, Sandra Bullock, John Thune, Ann Coulter, Tom Cruise, Stephen Hillenburg, Brooke Shields, M.C. Hammer, Tom Ford, Steve Scalise, Katherine Clark, Brett Easton Ellis, Courtney Love, Jerry Rice, Diane Humetewa, Michael Dell, David Brooks, William McCool, Sarah Palin, Kalpana Chawla, Laurel Clark, Ralph Macchio, Viola Davis, Melissa Etheridge, Charles Barkley, Audrey Niffenegger, Brad Pitt, Jackie Joyner-Kersee, Lisa Whelchel, Molly Shannon, George Clooney, Jamie Raskin, Kate Spade, Dan Gerhard Brown, Terri Sewell, Peter Staley, Bo Jackson, Wanda Sykes, RowVaughn Wells, Pramila Jayapal, Melissa Gilbert, Tammy Baldwin, Rand Paul, Tim Scott, John McWhorter, Chuck Palahniuk, Mary Barra, Demi Moore, Carl Lewis, Jim Carrey, Melissa McBride, Keanu Reeves, Mark Kelly, Johnny Depp, Lisa Blunt Rochester, Jim Jordan, Anthony Kiedis, Michael “Flea” Balzary, Robert Frederick Smith, Mariska Hargitay, Jeff Probst, Lou Diamond Phillips, Matt Biondi, Courteney Cox, Lisa Kudrow, George Lopez, Meg Ryan, Kristin Davis, Sarah Jessica Parker, Brian Sandoval, Tracy Chapman, Shania Twain, Rosie Perez, Billy Ray Cyrus, Sheryl Crow, Jon Bon Jovi, Paula Abdul, Don Bacon, Wynonna Judd
Subsequent Microgeneration: “Xennials” (1978–1982)
Prominent “Xennials”: Beyoncé, Pete Buttigieg, Venus Williams, Kim Kardashian, Colleen Hoover, Britney Spears, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Dwyane Wade, Mehdi Hasan, Brooke Owens, Kobe Bryant, Sharice Davids, Kelly Clarkson, Natasha Lyonne, Ibram X. Kendi, Misty Copeland, Jason Momoa, Shawn Fanning, Alicia Garza, Macauley Culkin, Celeste Ng, Matt Gaetz, Nate Burleson, Christine P. Hendon, Lance Bass, John Legend, Ron DeSantis, Jawed Karim, Tia & Tamera Mowry, Ginger Zee, Lauren Esposito, Drew Brees, Jesse Watters, Channing Tatum, Sarah Huckabee Sanders, Claire Danes, Serena Williams, Pitbull, Eric Swalwell, Zoe Saldana, Christina Aguilera, Jin Koh, Yashar Ali, Kristen Marhaver, Luis Fonzi, Jennie Finch, Kyle Lohse, Jessica Simpson, Blake Moore, James Franco, Alicia Keys, Monica Simpson, Katrina Lake, Pete Hegseth, Ali Wong, Josh Hawley, Meghan Markle, Justin Timberlake, Ashton Kutcher, Tony Dokoupil, Vladlen Koltun, Chris Kluwe, Tiffany Haddish, Mindy Kaling, Jen Psaki, Melanie Harrison Okoro, Wes Moore, Jessica Alba, Brandy Norwood, Angela Benton, Danica Patrick, Katie Halper, Tulsi Gabbard, Rami Malek, Adam Lambert, Steven Chen, John Krasinski, Michelle Kwan, Isa Noyola, Katie Holmes, Byron Donalds, Anne Hathaway, Jennifer Hudson, Kourtney Kardashian, Andy Roddick, Chris Pratt, Ilhan Omar, Affie Ellis, Jennifer Love Hewitt, Nicki Minaj, Chris Hayes, Lucas Kunce, Tara Lipinski, Abigail Spanberger, Wilmer Valderrama, Clay Aiken, Paris Hilton, Karamo Brown, Dolph Ziggler, Ruben Gallego, Danai Gurira, LeAnn Rimes, Tom Preston-Werner, Katie Britt, Jonathan Taylor Thomas, Pink, Lori Piestewa, Janelle Monáe, Peggy Fleming, Rosario Dawson, Adam Levine, Rachel Platten, Eli Manning
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