Did you know Gen Alpha isn’t the youngest generation anymore? January 1st marked the start of “Gen BETA”, people born between 2025 and 2039, and not everyone’s wild about the name.
“The Wall Street Journal” just ran this headline yesterday: “A New Generation Is Here. Its Name Is Already an INSULT.”
“Beta” is the second letter in the Greek alphabet, so it makes sense we’d go with it. But it’s also slang for someone who’s passive or weak, especially men, the opposite of an “alpha male.”
A researcher in Australia named Mark McCrindle coined the terms “Gen Alpha” and “Gen Beta.” He says there’s nothing wrong with them, and the system makes sense. The next generation would be Gamma, then Delta, and so on.
But some people don’t love the idea of their kid being called a “Beta” their whole life. Gen Alpha uses it as an insult a lot, so it’s like we’re teeing it up to be the next “OK Boomer.” (“Sigma” is slang for cool, by the way.)
It’s not too late to go with a different name if people agree on something else. So should we?
One idea that’s been tossed around is “Generation A.I.”, because they’ll never know a world without it. Do you have a name for the new generation?
