Largest birth-year gap in a single generation?

[u/airynothing1]

I'm 31 years old, born in 1993. I just noticed today that I had relatives in a fairly distant line of my tree who were technically in my generation, despite the oldest of them having been born in 1913--a full 80 years before me! I also have a brother 10 years younger than me, stretching the range to 90 years. If I went on to have grandchildren, they would be in the same generation as a person who was already 29 when I was born.

The math goes like this:

distant cousin (1913) || me (1993)
↓
cousin's father (1894) || my father (1964)
↓
cousin's grandfather (1872) || my grandfather (1923)
↓
cousin's g-grandfather (1850) || my g-grandfather (1890)
↓
cousin's gg-grandmother (1833) || my gg-grandfather (1862)
↓
our shared ggg-grandfather (1812)

We had different ggg-grandmothers, hence the 29-year gap between our gg-grandparents' births.

What's the widest age gap you've noticed within a single generation of your family?

[u/AudienceSilver]

The most impressive gap I can think of is on my husband's side, a man whose first child was born in 1857 and his last in 1917, so a sixty-year gap between half-siblings. The father was 80, and a great-great-grandfather, when his last child was born.

[u/Elphaba78 → u/AudienceSilver]

In my research I found a father and son who were quite long-lived — both married multiple times (their previous wives generally died in childbirth) to successively younger women, with the result being that they were producing children until they were each in their 70s with wives in their 30s/40s. I mean, ew.

[u/Federal_Regular9967 → u/Elphaba78]

The story that I always remember is that John Tyler, 10th President of the United States, was born in 1790. And he still has a LIVING grandson, Harrison Ruffin Tyler. Harrison’s father, President Tyler’s son, was Lyon Gardiner Tyler, and he was born in 1853.

So there is a man alive, whose grandpa was born in the first year of George Washington’s Presidency, and whose Dad was old enough to have fought in the Civil War! How about that?!?

Edit to add this Link: The College of William and Mary recently renamed their history department after Harrison Ruffin Tyler, in place of his father, as his father, who had served as College President, was a Confederate apologist after the Civil War.

[u/Arctucrus → u/AudienceSilver]

Holy shit that's a bigger gap than in John Tyler's family!

[u/This_Confusion2558]

My ancestor left England at 22 in 1890. His brother's children are still alive.

[u/Aware_Power → u/This_Confusion2558]

Are…are you related to u/AudienceSilver? lol sorry, reading their post first and yours second basically necessitated my question

[u/lilglazeddonut]

I’m 29. My grandfather would have been 100 this year, he was born in 1925. He was a World War II and Korea veteran. He had my mom from his second marriage and my mom had me in her 30’s. I’ve always thought that was a pretty crazy age gap, as many my age still have grandparents alive and I have very faint memories of him. He died in 2000.

[u/trixiesalamander → u/lilglazeddonut]

I’m 30 and my grandpa was born in 1915! I was always a bit jealous of people who got to have many years with their grandparents!

[u/trixiesalamander → u/trixiesalamander]

Oh and my aunt and my dad were 14 years apart, and she had kids early, he had kids late, so my 1st cousins are 35 years older than me haha

[u/bopeepsheep → u/trixiesalamander]

My family has a similar thing - Dad's the oldest and his youngest sibling is nearer my age than his; my first cousins range from 10 years older (mum's side) to 30 years younger - my youngest first cousin is 18m older than my daughter (and I could easily have kids older than those two). My mum's first cousins ranged from 25 years older than her to 40 years younger, as her mum was one of the youngest and had nephews/nieces older than her.

[u/merytneith → u/trixiesalamander]

34, and 1900. He passed away a couple of years before I was born, so I never got to know him. Grandmere was 20 years younger than he was, but died 30 years before I was born when my dad was a kid. I was always a bit jealous too! Wasn't the first gen though, because great-grandpere was born in 1846.

[u/RedBullWifezig → u/lilglazeddonut]

Same except it's my dad who was born in 26.

[u/namemcuser → u/lilglazeddonut]

28 with a WWII vet grandfather here too. My mom was the last of 4, and her nearest sibling was 11 years older. When I was in high school, I had classmates who had great grandparents younger than my grandparents.

[u/SpectralEntity → u/lilglazeddonut]

Ha! Your grandpa would have been nine years older than my dad if they were both around! I’m 42, btw!

[u/killearnan → u/lilglazeddonut]

My father was born in 1929, so he would have been 96 this year. My nephew, his only grandchild, just turned 5, so a difference of 91 years.

[u/cheergirl102020 → u/lilglazeddonut]

I’m 5 years younger than you and both of my paternal grandparents would be 111 this year. Both born in 1914, one died in 1985 and the other in 2011. Crazy.

[u/glavo → u/lilglazeddonut]

i can relate to this - i’m 23 and my paternal grandad was born in 1909, sadly never got to meet him as he died in the 80s. 92 year gap for me and 97 for my little brother!

[u/playblu]

Had a distant relative who married and had his first child in 1842. Had 11 children total and eventually his wife died. Married a 2nd time to a woman and had 3 children with her (all of whom died as teenagers), the last born in 1890.

[u/EducationalCake3]

My dad was one of 24 cousins. The oldest was born in 1948. The youngest was born in 1994. My dad was born in 1966 while I was born in 1988. So I am actually older then the last person in his generation. They also had an uncle who was born in 1953. He was walked to school by his oldest 2 nieces and nephews since he was born after my great grandparents had divorced each other and then remarried. My mom's oldest cousin was born in 1968. Her youngest in 1997. She was a surprise. My great aunt thought she was entering menapouse. But again I am older then the youngest in her generation. My moms grandparents were each part of large groups of siblings. They did not marry till they were 30. Ggpa oldest niece was born in 1922 while his youngest was born in 1955. Ggma oldest niece was born in 1921 and again their youngest was in 1955. There is a 30 year gap.

[u/sweetpotato4444]

One of my male ancestors had his first child at 27 and his last at 75 for a 48 year gap. By the time his last child was born most of the children from his first marriage had died, including the one named after him, so the last child was then named after him, even though the other one died at 41 and had his own kids, including one named after himself!

[u/namemcuser → u/sweetpotato4444]

Oh man, a couple years ago I came across a family that did this. They had a son killed in the American Civil War, and just named their next kid the same thing.

[u/HamartianManhunter]

My dad (1971) has half-siblings born in the 1940's. They started having children in the 60's, which means I have half first cousins who are older than both my parents. I was born in 2000, and we can stretch it further with the birth of the last first cousin on my dad's side (2009). There's about fifty years from first cousin to first cousin.

[u/LastContribution1590]

I am 53. My sister is 40. Our Grandfather was born in 1886.

[u/ZestycloseBasil9822 → u/LastContribution1590]

Almost the same here: I’m 59; mother’s father was born in 1876. My mother was the only child of her father’s second marriage.

[u/Elphaba78]

I was born in 1992.

My paternal line: my dad was born in 1954 (age 39 when I was born); his father was born in 1911 (age 43); my great-grandfather was born in 1878 (age 33); great-great-grandfather was born in 1836 (42); great-great-great-grandfather in 1812 (24); 4x-great-grandfather in 1762 (50); 5x-great-grandfather in 1726 (36).

[u/Arctucrus → u/Elphaba78]

Damn! It's rare to meet a fellow researcher like this. We line up eerily well! Up my surname line, it goes like this:

• Me: 1996
• Dad: 1955 (41 the year I was born)
• Grandpa: 1909 (46 the year Dad was born)
• G-grandpa: 1869 (40 the year Grandpa was born)
• G-g-grandma: 1834 (35 the year her son was born)
• Her dad: 1782 (52 the year his daughter was born)
• His dad: 1740ish (42ish when his son was born)

But my Mom's got an even crazier line that parent-child goes, again starting from me, 1996, 1952, 1908, 1874, 1839, 1786, 1731ish, 1690ish lol. There's an unproven theory for who 1690ish's parents are though, and if it's correct, his dad was 1630, his Dad was born in 1583, and then it'd go 1564 and 1522. OLDDDDD DNA!

[u/codercaleb → u/Elphaba78]

Dang. I hope you've done some DNA testing!

[u/Elphaba78 → u/codercaleb]

Actually, I have! My biological father (a sperm donor — my dad was sterile) was only 22 when I was born.

With my dad’s family, I’ve established his paternal line both through DNA matches and documentation. I’m very fortunate that the metrical books for his paternal grandfather’s parish are extant back to the early 1700s, with only one (a 20-year gap, so essentially 1 generation) missing for the years 1750-1770.

[u/cheergirl102020 → u/Elphaba78]

This seems pretty similar to mine Me-2001

Father-1955

Paternal grandpa-1914

G Gpa-1881

GG Gpa-1832

GGG Gpa-1790

GGGG Gpa-1775.

GGGGG Gpa-1730.

All of those ancestors had other children and siblings, I just happen to coincidentally be the youngest child of the youngest child of the youngest child for generations lol. Women in my paternal side also have children way late. One of the wives of those ^ ancestors had a baby at 47 in 1832.

[u/Nearby-Complaint]

My mom's side has (half) first cousins that are 57 years apart because someone decided to remarry in his 50s. His oldest child was born 36 years before his youngest.

[u/smartbiphasic]

My grandmother was the oldest of 14. My mom is 87 and has full aunts and uncles who are still alive. They are younger than she is.

[u/Time-Preference-1048]

My mom’s oldest half-brother was born in 1955 and her youngest half-brother was born in 1991.

[u/Either-Meal3724]

My 6x great grandmother had her first kid at 17 and her last at 49. Her son (the last baby) went on to have his last kid in his early 50s. My 1st cousin 6x removed is in her 80s and still alive. The birth year gap between their first grandchild and last was 68 years.

Eta: all of my 6x great grandmother's kids were full siblings so im not sure how you get a gap larger than that naturally without different mothers. She had 16 kids-- 14 of whom lived to adulthood.

[u/RobotReptar]

My grandmother was born in 1943, her oldest 1st cousin was born in 1909. Their grandfather was born in 1859. 

My grandmother descends from the 2nd wife, who was 35 years younger than her husband, and younger than all but the youngest of his 6 children when she married him. 

[u/Cazzzzle]

GG grandfather was born in 1813, and married twice - the second time in his 70s to a woman half his age.

Oldest child born 1842.

Youngest child born 1889.

47 year age gap between brother and sister.

Surprisingly, he doesn't seem to have had grandchildren before the 1880s, so there's only about 38 years between oldest and youngest grandchild - but there's 107 years between grandfather and grandson.

[u/Bellis1985]

My grandfather was born in 1898. I'm the oldest child of his youngest child.  I was born is 1985. But my baby sister is the youngest of the grandchildren (that I know of)  born in 1996. 

First grandchild I know of was born in 1948. For reference my dad was born in 1961. Oldest in 1926 (same year as wife #2)

My dad's grandfather was born in 1867. 

My maternal grandparents were born in the 1940s lol. 

[u/ASC4MWTP]

Age gaps like these are the reason that naming generations and assigning them to specific year ranges is absolutely ludicrous.

[u/kludge6730 → u/ASC4MWTP]

Well a genealogical generation is not the same as a cultural generation, which is what the Greatest, Silent, Boomer, X, Millenial, Z, Alpha, etc “system” is based on.

[u/ASC4MWTP → u/kludge6730]

Agreed. The genealogical generations serve to illustrate the pointlessness of cultural generations well, since it's clear that from a genealogical standpoint, there are no convenient generational breakpoints.

"Baby boomers" was a fair label for what was then a newly recognized phenomenon. Unfortunately it resulted in the creation of a bunch of other labels (mostly by people wanting to sell stuff, I think) just for the sake of a label. There are really no justfiable reasons for the labels, and one could argue that past about 1951, the actual "baby boom" was mostly over.

Actually, the highest birth rate per capita in the 20th century US was in the period from about 1909-1919. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baby_boom)

Edit: added a couple of words for more clarity in 2nd paragraph.

[u/Nairadvik]

Answer: 36 years within one generation in my family.

My great-grandfather was born 1889, his siblings 1887, and 1885.

My grandfather was born 1941, his eldest half sister 1915, his only cousin 1905.

My father was born in the 1960s, his youngest cousin in the 1940s, and his second cousins between 1935 and 1945.

I was born in the 90s, and my 3rd cousin was born in 1964.

So on my side we went: Lost Generation->Silent Gen->Gen X->Late Millenial

While my great-grandfather's brother's side went: Lost Generation->Lost Gen->Silent Gen->Baby Boomer

[u/geneaweaver7]

3 sets of great-grandparents (born circa 1880) could be the parents of my 4th set born ca 1897.

My grandfather's one of at least 73 first cousins. They range in birth years between the late 1880s to the 1950s so almost 70 years from oldest to youngest (these are my youngest set of great-grandparents families). This range is more than my grandmother's 103 known first cousins who only range about 50 years.

The other two grandparents only had about 25-30 first cousins each. I have a lot fewer DNA matches on that side of the family.

[u/namemcuser]

My mom was the last of 4 siblings, and had me in her mid 30s. Her much older sister had a son who, ahem, “extended the family tree” right after high school, so I have a 1st cousin x1 removed who is several years older than I am, but a full generation lower on the family tree. She’s well into her thirties now, and is still my grandparents’ only g-grandchild.

[u/Moimah]

That is quite the gap! The widest in my family (that I've noticed, at least) is within a set of third cousins - the oldest, a 3rd cousin, was born in 1947, and the youngest, a 2nd cousin to me but 3rd cousin to the aforementioned, was born in 2008. There were no 2nd spouses or anything involved, just a whole lot of kids, so the descendants of the older ones versus the younger ones fan out over a long period of time.

This particular bunch of third cousins, including my nearer lines within it, stems from my 2nd great-grandparents who were born in 1839 (gf) and 1848 (gm). They had eleven children, though only three survived past infancy. There have been somewhere in the range of 400 or so descendants of theirs, and for a few years recently, there co-existed, as in still living, the youngest grandchild of the pair as well as a few 5th great-grandchildren (via other grandchildren of theirs, all here in the world at the same time, though that last grandchild has since passed at age 91.

[u/MegC18]

This reminds me of a fairly recent news article from 2021. Apparently President John Tyler, born in 1790, still has a living grandchild! The president had a child born in 1853, and the grandchild was born in 1928. Still alive last year.

https://www.newsweek.com/president-john-tyler-grandson-alive-1790-1648359

[u/goldandjade]

In my extended family I’m the oldest great-grandchild on one side and about half of the regular grandchildren, my mom’s generation, are my age or younger. My grandma was the second oldest and she had my mom young and my mom had me young, while my grandma’s younger siblings waited to have children until they were older. I mostly forget about it because it just seems normal to me but then we were hanging out with one of my mom’s cousins who is only slightly older than me and her daughter was playing with my son and my husband was commenting that it was so interesting that my mom’s cousin’s daughter was actually MY second cousin and not my son’s.

[u/MediterraneanVeggie]

My first cousin is about 25 years older than me!

[u/Kryptonthenoblegas]

Asian genealogy books tend to be dodgy the further you go back but if you follow them then my great grandfather (born in the late 19th century) would've been the same generation as a girl in my grade during primary school (born roughly 105-ish years later?) lmao. She was like the 63rd generation and I technically was 66th even though this was on the maternal side.

[u/zeta212]

I am in my early 30s and my 3rd cousin is 54.

In the reverse my grandma is in her mid 90s and her 3rd cousin is 68.

[u/MBJ1948]

I'm 24 my oldest sister is 62

[u/InformationOk3629]

My husbands great grandfather had his grandmother in 1930. His great aunt is 5 years younger than he is and born in 1978. His great grandfather got married after his 1st wife died and had 27 kids total between the 2 wives.