Talk:Silent Generation

Gordie Howe immigrant?

I'm not sure of Gordie Howe's citizenship status, but I think he might be a "Canadian", as opposed to an "immigrant".—Preceding unsigned comment added by Cmshepherd (talk • contribs) 8 March 2006

A fundamental problem here

The first sentence of the Characteristics section says "The Silent Generation were children of the Great Depression". No qualification. No wording that says "...or soon after", or anything like that. That's obviously at conflict with other parts of the article. There is currently a discussion at the article on Joe Biden on whether HIS article should say he is a member of the silent generation. The confusion in this article isn't helping. HiLo48 (talk) 21:42, 15 February 2021 (UTC)

geographical scope

Is this term applicable to just the US and Australia? The article is unclear on what countries the term is applied to.Kdammers (talk) 03:19, 18 May 2021 (UTC)

It's not used in Australia. The article makes that clear. My impression is that it's purely an American thing. The lead needs to be clearer about that. HiLo48 (talk) 07:40, 18 May 2021 (UTC)

You're right. I had originally written just the US and then too quickly checked for any other country being mentioned at all without noting the actual use. In any case, as you wrote, the article's introduction should make clear the exact geographical scope (e.g., what about Canada?). ( But where is a citable source that specifies this? ) Kdammers (talk) 02:50, 20 May 2021 (UTC)

A Commons file used on this page or its Wikidata item has been nominated for deletion

The following Wikimedia Commons file used on this page or its Wikidata item has been nominated for deletion:

• Generation timeline.svg

Participate in the deletion discussion at the nomination page. —Community Tech bot (talk) 05:26, 7 July 2021 (UTC)

Missing generation?

So my mother, born in 1943, is "The Silent Generation", but I, being born when she was 24, in 1968, am "Generation X" -- missing out the "Baby Boomer" generation? How does that work? I'm literally the generation following hers. This system is faulty. 2.31.164.121 (talk) 12:17, 5 September 2021 (UTC)

The current generational terminology, I believe, is trying to find the mean of a similar age group of people who happened to go through a shared experience (60s, post-9/11, etc...), as well as collecting data about certain age groups. In your instance, it overlaps; your mother being born at the tail end of the "Silent Generation". The same instance happens for a child born to 40+ year old parents, thereby skipping a generation (which lasts around 20-25 years). These kinds of issues are expected and quite normal, as the current generational gaps/terminology are not entirely perfect but it's useful labels. Yourlocallordandsavior (talk) 21:41, 7 October 2021 (UTC)

There's also what you might call a "sub-cohort," the War Babies. I have a friend who can claim to be one of the first true War Babies, as she was born in November '42, meaning that she was conceived after Pearl Harbor. And, my sister is one of the last, being born in April '45, just before VE day but before VJ. JDZeff (talk) 06:06, 6 July 2025 (UTC)

Did the other countries of the world, you know, those fighting a World War for three years before that, have different dates for War Babies? HiLo48 (talk) 06:29, 6 July 2025 (UTC)

It seems reasonable that they would, assuming that they use the term at all. I don't know if they do or don't, or where to look to find out. Maybe somebody else will. JDZeff (talk) 18:52, 11 July 2025 (UTC)

So the generation that was born in the Great Depression and grew up during WWII, is referred to as silent because they appreciated the peace and prosperity of their times? Weren’t they the ones who fought for civil rights for all and put a man on the moon? ~2026-35741-02 (talk) 14:24, 18 June 2026 (UTC)

Where the name came from isn't well understood. See Silent Generation#Terminology. The generation's accomplishments (in the US) are highlighted in Silent Generation#In adulthood. Danbloch (talk) 16:36, 18 June 2026 (UTC)

Over-generalization

According to the article at present, you would be excused if you believed that people born into "the Silent Generation", i.e. between 1928 and 1945, fitted the description. There's only a short acknowledgement that there were a few exceptions.

Whether they were recognized when the term first became used, we are now able to see that there were many who were not silent but for a variety of reasons, must be seen as vocal movers and shakers. They include such as Jane Fonda, Calvin Klein, John Lennon, John Lewis, Jesse Jackson, Muhammad Ali, Bob Dylan and Stephen Hawking to name just a few.

The article would be more accurate if there was more information about the exceptions. ~2026-15332-59 (talk) 09:33, 4 April 2026 (UTC)