A decade is often all you need: a quiz round, a playlist, the years a made-up character grew up in. This wheel of years spins thirteen of them, the 1900s to the 2020s, and shows each one's leap years and the generation born in it. Tap 1900 to 1949, 1950 to 1999 or 2000 onward to narrow the wheel.
From a decade to a single year
The wheel stops on a decade. Need one year? Open My list and type up to 100 years, one per line. Ten lines, 1980 to 1989, make a wheel of the years inside the decade you just spun. Tap Decades to go back.
Generation lines cut through seven decades
The line under each result names the generation born in that decade, by the ranges most often quoted: baby boomers 1946 to 1964, Generation X 1965 to 1980, Millennials 1981 to 1996, Generation Z 1997 to 2012. Seven of the thirteen decades straddle two generations, so a birth decade alone does not settle it: a character born in 1964 is a boomer, and one born in 1965 is Generation X. Researchers move the lines a year or two, and nobody has agreed where Generation Alpha starts or ends.
Tips
For a decades party or a music quiz, choose Elimination so no decade comes up twice.
At a family gathering, spin a decade and ask the oldest person there for a memory from it.
Writing a character and stuck on the birth year? Spin the wheel for the decade, then pick a year on the side of the generation line the story needs.
Questions and answers
Why does the wheel stop on decades and not on single years?
A year wheel spinner with a segment for every year since 1900 needs more than 120 slices, and labels stop being readable past about 40. Thirteen decades fit. To use this as a random year generator wheel, spin twice: the decade, then its ten years in My list. With all 13 decades on the wheel, every year from 1900 to 2029 has a 1 in 130 chance.
Can I add decades before 1900 or after the 2020s?
Yes. Open My list, press Use the 13 decades, and add 1890s or 2030s on a new line. Your own list spins the labels alone, without the leap years and generation line.
I have a decade. How do I get to a full date of birth?
Settle the year first, by choice or from a short run of years in My list. Then spin the wheel of months, or the birthday wheel for month and day together. If the day is 29 February, check the leap years under your decade: only those years have one.
2000s2000 to 2009. Leap years: 2000, 2004 and 2008. By the usual ranges, everyone born in this decade belongs to Generation Z, 1997 to 2012.
2010s2010 to 2019. Leap years: 2012 and 2016. By the usual ranges, Generation Z ends with 2012. Generation Alpha is loosely counted from the early 2010s, with no agreed first year.
2020s2020 to 2029. Leap years: 2020, 2024 and 2028. Children born in this decade are usually counted as Generation Alpha, which has no agreed last year yet.
1900 to 1949 5
1900s1900 to 1909. Leap years: 1904 and 1908. In the Gregorian calendar 1900 was not one. By the usual ranges, 1900 is the last birth year of the Lost Generation, and the Greatest Generation runs from 1901 to 1927.
1910s1910 to 1919. Leap years: 1912 and 1916. By the usual ranges, everyone born in this decade belongs to the Greatest Generation, 1901 to 1927.
1920s1920 to 1929. Leap years: 1920, 1924 and 1928. By the usual ranges, the Greatest Generation ends with 1927 and the Silent Generation starts in 1928.
1930s1930 to 1939. Leap years: 1932 and 1936. By the usual ranges, everyone born in this decade belongs to the Silent Generation, 1928 to 1945.
1940s1940 to 1949. Leap years: 1940, 1944 and 1948. By the usual ranges, the Silent Generation ends with 1945 and the baby boomers start in 1946.
1950 to 1999 5
1950s1950 to 1959. Leap years: 1952 and 1956. By the usual ranges, everyone born in this decade is a baby boomer, 1946 to 1964.
1960s1960 to 1969. Leap years: 1960, 1964 and 1968. By the usual ranges, the baby boomers end with 1964 and Generation X starts in 1965.
1970s1970 to 1979. Leap years: 1972 and 1976. By the usual ranges, everyone born in this decade belongs to Generation X, 1965 to 1980.
1980s1980 to 1989. Leap years: 1980, 1984 and 1988. By the usual ranges, 1980 is the last birth year of Generation X, and the Millennials run from 1981 to 1996.
1990s1990 to 1999. Leap years: 1992 and 1996. By the usual ranges, the Millennials end with 1996 and Generation Z starts in 1997.
How this list was compiled: Thirteen decades, each counted from the year ending in 0 to the year ending in 9. Leap years are our own arithmetic from the Gregorian rule (a year that divides by 4, except a century year that does not divide by 400), checked against https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gregorian_calendar (checked 2026-09-18). Generation names and birth-year ranges are the ones given at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Generation (checked 2026-09-18): Lost Generation 1883 to 1900, Greatest Generation 1901 to 1927, Silent Generation 1928 to 1945, baby boomers 1946 to 1964, Generation X 1965 to 1980, Millennials 1981 to 1996, Generation Z 1997 to 2012. That page calls the last three ranges general or typical, and says there is no consensus yet on the birth years of Generation Alpha, so the lines say 'by the usual ranges' and give no range for it. Other researchers draw the lines a year or two either side. Licence: own work