chopshopcop
Member
This page seems to offer an accurate and simple explanation...
How long is a human generation? - Greg Laden's Blog
How long is a human generation? - Greg Laden's Blog
How Long Is a Generation? Video Added!
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CCHGN
Member
Can't use modern numbers on old times. Back in the day , a girl was a woman when she had her 1st period. Back in the day women were having children in their teens. Say 1st settlers, parents were 1st gen, kids 2nd gen, then the daughter had a kid at 15, (3rd gen) then her daughter had a kid at 15 4th Gen- 4 gens in 30 yrs. Her daughter had a kid at 15, 5 gens in 45yrs. Her daughter had a kid- 6 gens in 60 yrs. Imo make a family tree and then count the gens.
THE PILGRIM
Member
In this case, the years don't matter.
She can count and probably name 5 generations of her family who have lived in South Africa.
She can count and probably name 5 generations of her family who have lived in South Africa.
jtcarm
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Pardon the pun, but it's totally relational in the family sense.
In the case of Miss Universe, if counting herself and siblings as one, five generations would go back to her great-great-grandparents. Time-wise, it can't be measured.
Consider that our 10th President, John Tyler, born 1790, has grandchildren living today. So had Tyler been an immigrant (yes, I know, he couldn't have been president), those people could say they were third-generation Americans, sounding like their grandfather had been about a hundred years younger.
Then there's the labeling of Americans born in certain time periods, which I think is polarizing BS.
The thing I don't even TRY to understand is what first & second cousins are and what makes a cousin "removed".
Please don't bother explaining. I'm married and my name's not Jerry Lee Lewis, so I don't care how closely/related my cousins are.
In the case of Miss Universe, if counting herself and siblings as one, five generations would go back to her great-great-grandparents. Time-wise, it can't be measured.
Consider that our 10th President, John Tyler, born 1790, has grandchildren living today. So had Tyler been an immigrant (yes, I know, he couldn't have been president), those people could say they were third-generation Americans, sounding like their grandfather had been about a hundred years younger.
Then there's the labeling of Americans born in certain time periods, which I think is polarizing BS.
The thing I don't even TRY to understand is what first & second cousins are and what makes a cousin "removed".
Please don't bother explaining. I'm married and my name's not Jerry Lee Lewis, so I don't care how closely/related my cousins are.
THE PILGRIM
Member
Down South we track kinfolks down 4-5 decimal places.
My Mother's Family is well documented, two books so far.
Both written by Cousin Rod up in Maryland.
He's still Cousin Rod even if separated by a bunch!
Probably closing in on that Fith decimal place.
The branch I come from had already moved to South Carolina before the time of maximum regional disagreement.
My Mother's Family is well documented, two books so far.
Both written by Cousin Rod up in Maryland.
He's still Cousin Rod even if separated by a bunch!
Probably closing in on that Fith decimal place.
The branch I come from had already moved to South Carolina before the time of maximum regional disagreement.
Absalom
SWCA Member, Absent Comrade
But those generations are so easy to identify. Just ask someone a question they can't answer.
A boomer will go and look for an encyclopedia.
A Generation Xer will turn on his desk-top.
A millennial will walk into a lamp-post googling it on his smartphone.
And a post-millennial will just say "Alexa, tell me ..."
Never mind cousins. Anyone know the correct term for the daughter of my brother's wife's twin sister? Is that like a second-degree niece or a niece once removed?
Between you and her there is no relationship by blood or marriage. Your brother would be her uncle by marriage, being married to her mother's sister.
I used to deal a lot with property titles, and sometimes inheritance factored in establishing who had what interest in a property.
THE PILGRIM
Member
What GoldDollar said.
She's jtcarm's Bro's Niece.
My Mother was in Nursing Home owned by my Bro's ex-wife's Niece.
So she had been my Bro's Niece by Marriage.
So now you could say she is my Bro's ex-Niece.
But she ain't my ex-Niece.
She's jtcarm's Bro's Niece.
My Mother was in Nursing Home owned by my Bro's ex-wife's Niece.
So she had been my Bro's Niece by Marriage.
So now you could say she is my Bro's ex-Niece.
But she ain't my ex-Niece.
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If ya really want some thought provoking considerations, look at when USA went to zero-population growth, and transitioned into negative population
growth (deaths exceeding births).
Relate that to the the Baby Boomers age curve...and consider that same
situation applies to all the major combatant nations of WW2.
growth (deaths exceeding births).
Relate that to the the Baby Boomers age curve...and consider that same
situation applies to all the major combatant nations of WW2.
My maternal grandfather was born in 1869, His grandfather in 1811. I was born in '54. For us 5 generations is 134 years. That Nickerson line goes back to the first Mass, Cape Cod G. Father born in 1647. Pilgrams and Strangers.
"...When did your family arrive here, and how many generations do you calculate that is, until you?"
Fourteen generations including me; first one here in what is now the USA was a twelfth generation and my 9th Great grandfather, arrived in Jamestown, Virginia in spring of 1608. A bunch more arrived in the following twenty years in Virginia and the Massachusetts Bay Colony.
This kind of stuff is a good illustration of compounding. I'm one, parents are 2, grandparents 4, gr-grandparents are 8, ..., 9th gr-grandfather's generation there are 2,048 people if there was no intermarriage.
People that claim in a bragging way that they are descended from Henry VIII or some other royalty and stick their noses in the air better do some arithmetic. Most likely they are something like only one part in 262,000 of Ole Henry.
Fourteen generations including me; first one here in what is now the USA was a twelfth generation and my 9th Great grandfather, arrived in Jamestown, Virginia in spring of 1608. A bunch more arrived in the following twenty years in Virginia and the Massachusetts Bay Colony.
This kind of stuff is a good illustration of compounding. I'm one, parents are 2, grandparents 4, gr-grandparents are 8, ..., 9th gr-grandfather's generation there are 2,048 people if there was no intermarriage.
People that claim in a bragging way that they are descended from Henry VIII or some other royalty and stick their noses in the air better do some arithmetic. Most likely they are something like only one part in 262,000 of Ole Henry.
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In a general sense, my rule of thumb has always been 25 years. Not sure why. With specific families and individuals, of course, the time varies between generations.
kozmic
Member
I have no idea how long a generation is, but my wife is constantly telling me she hopes all of my bad habits skip a generation so my boys have a fighting chance at being normal.
transit
Member
Going through my dad's paternal line I am the 5th generation in America we can identify. We hold pretty close to the 20 years per generation because my great-great granddad was born in 1847 and I was born in 1952 which is only a span of 105 years.
Alpo
Member
I just checked the records and counted.
Counting my grandchildren as one, my daughter as two, me as three, counting back to the first of my name to come here - born in England in 1688, came here in1700 - there have been twelve generations of my family in this country.
Counting my grandchildren as one, my daughter as two, me as three, counting back to the first of my name to come here - born in England in 1688, came here in1700 - there have been twelve generations of my family in this country.
Ivan the Butcher
Member
Father marries thirtyish 2nd wife about age 70, son of father's 2nd wife does same thing, and you end up a couple hundred years in three generations. OTOH, if everybody gets married and has first child by age 19, you have 5 generations in less than 100 years.
"Generation" is a pretty loose concept in terms of years.
At least one branch of my family has been here since before the Revolution. My Mom and grandmother were members of DAR. That means we had a direct antecedent who fought in the Revolution. Somewhere I have their old papers where they traced it back. I'd have to find that to count up the generations, but I reckon it's 10 or more.
Going back through my mother's paternal line, that part of our family came over in 1754, but I'm only the 6th generation born in America after almost 200 years because the ancestor who got off the boat to sire the first American born generation was only about 12 years old when he landed, and it took him almost another 30 years to have the son I'm descended from.
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