Because women tended to get married earlier, maternal lines have more generations in a given time. e.g. Anna Price (an ancestor following a purely maternal line) was born in 1750 and is generation 10; Thomas McBride (a paternal line) was born in 1749 and is generation 8.
Also the age differences between the youngest and oldest children, which can be 15 years or more in the 18th and 19th centuries adds up over several generations. e.g. James Finley (b. 1783) is generation 8 when going back thru the Arthur Thomas McBride (children born 1905-15) line but generation 7 when going back thru the Shadrach Gladney (children born 1899-1905) line.

Birth-dates (As we've added families some of the date ranges have grown from what's below.)

Gen Median  Range
  1       1978-present
  2  1971 1949-1998
  3  1945 1922-1970
  4  1915 1896-1933
  5  1883 1865-1895
  6  1853 1839-1863
  7  1820 1789-1845
  8  1798 1749-1822

|Gen   Range
|  9  1729-1805
| 10  1698-1764
| 11  1673-1735
| 12  1637-1709
| 13  1590-1668
| 14  1567-1655
| 15  1540-1620
| 16  1515-1573
| 17  1483-1538

|Gen   Range
| 18  1442-1503
| 19  1420-1470
|  See Finley Ancient Roots for
|  speculation on dates below.
| 30  950-1000
| 57  14 AD
| 98   1700 BC
| 125  2,350-2,900 BC Noah
| 134  3760 - 5200 BC Adam

Generations Numbers on Ancestry Pages Here | Top

Generation 6 ancestors were born between 1839-1863. Their average family spanned 20+ years (from youngest to oldest child). We centered the genealogies here around this generation, so the generation boundaries spread out as you move forward and backward from generation 6. For example the median birth-date for generation 2 is 1971 which is Gen X, however there are about 200 generation 2 descendants of these California Settlers with birthdates from 1949 to 1998. The median birthdate for generation 3 (the Great Grandchildren of the settlers) is 1945 which is on the builder/boomer boarder line. Generation 3 birthdates range from 1922 - 1970, so some spill into Gen-X.

There isn't much of a consensus on generation definitions. There are 3 or more different date ranges for the generations.
The Boomer Generation defined by the Census Bureau as the high birthrate years (1946-64), but other sources use 1943-1960.
The Silent generation was coined in the November 5, 1951 cover story of Time to refer to the generation within the United States coming of age at the time (born from 1923 to 1933).
The term "Bridger" comes from Thom S. Rainer's book "The Bridger Generation: America's Second Largest Generation, What They Believe, How to Reach Them", 1997

The generation after Gen X has been called Gen Y, the Net Generation (N Gen), Echo Boomers, the Bridger Generation and the Millennial generation.
The term "Bridger" comes from Thom S. Rainer's book "The Bridger Generation: America's Second Largest Generation, What They Believe, How to Reach Them", 1997