# How old were your parents when you were born? What was their age difference? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [August 31, 2010, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-old-were-your-parents-when-you-were-born-what-was-their-age-difference/552191 "2010-08-31T22:28:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![Roderick\_Femm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/roderick_femm/32/14875_2.png) [@Roderick\_Femm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roderick_Femm)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2010, 11:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-old-were-your-parents-when-you-were-born-what-was-their-age-difference/552191/101 "2010-09-01T23:50:26Z")
When I was born my father was 27 years 2 months and 18 days old. My mother was 24 years, 8 months and 19 days old. When my older sister was born, my father was 24 years 7 months and 18 days old. My mother was 22 years 0 months and 19 days old. The difference in their ages was 2 years, 6 months and 29 days (or 944 days). The difference in age between me and my sister is 2 years and 7 months, or 943 days. Almost interesting coincidence. Roddy ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2010, 12:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-old-were-your-parents-when-you-were-born-what-was-their-age-difference/552191/102 "2010-09-02T00:06:26Z")
[QUOTE=AqualungBats5th] Mom was 31. Dad was 68. [/QUOTE] Wow. If you don’t mind my asking, did the marriage last? And did you have any type of relationship with your dad? ---
**Author:** ![Eva\_Luna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e495f1/32.png) [@Eva\_Luna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eva_Luna)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2010, 12:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-old-were-your-parents-when-you-were-born-what-was-their-age-difference/552191/103 "2010-09-02T00:13:17Z")
My mom was 26, and my dad was 28 when I was born (I’m the oldest). My younger sister was born 2 years almost to the day after me. My parents got divorced when I was about 10, and my half-brother was born the month after I graduated college. Dad was 49 then, and my stepmom was 35. It was hilarious when my sister and I went shopping for baby presents when my half-brother was about to be born; every time we walked into a store, the salespeople would say “how nice! Which one of you is expecting?” ---
**Author:** ![FrancisCastle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/b4bc9f/32.png) [@FrancisCastle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FrancisCastle)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2010, 12:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-old-were-your-parents-when-you-were-born-what-was-their-age-difference/552191/104 "2010-09-02T00:28:11Z")
My mom was 27, my dad was 30 I was 16 when my first was born, his dad was 17 With my next two, I was 20/26 and their dad was 22/28 ---
**Author:** ![Mister\_Rik](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mister_rik/32/491_2.png) [@Mister\_Rik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mister_Rik)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2010, 3:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-old-were-your-parents-when-you-were-born-what-was-their-age-difference/552191/105 "2010-09-02T03:13:57Z")
I was born 3 days after my mom’s 22nd birthday; my dad turned 22 four months later. Fun factoids: My parents, I, and my youngest sister were all born in years where the last 2 digits were the same: 1944, ‘66, and ‘77. In 1988, this sister was 11, exactly half my age (22) and I was exactly half my parents’ ages (44). And this year, this sister is 33, half our parents’ ages (66). Also this year, I turned 44 while having been born in '66, and my parents turn 66 while having been born in '44. ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2010, 5:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-old-were-your-parents-when-you-were-born-what-was-their-age-difference/552191/106 "2010-09-02T05:42:59Z")
They were both 24 going on 25. Their age difference is only 24 days. Looking through my genealogies, going back 9 generations through one of the lines I averaged the generational length at 31.4 years. Following another line I got an average of 27.3 years. My grandmother had her first child at age 37, and she had my mom at 39. This was fairly typical for old-school Irish who had a custom of marrying really late. (It makes sense in terms of limiting population growth, if one lacks confidence in the potato crop, say.) But my mom grew up modern and married at 23, which was more the norm for Americans in the 1950s—right out of college. And then my one sister got married at 35 and didn’t have her first baby until she was _ **41.** _ :eek: Then had another when she was 44. :eek: That wasn’t an antiquated Irish anti-sex or population-control thing, but a 21st century professional-woman-with-a-career thing. Another sign of the times. I just thought it was interesting how the Zeitgeist of each generation affected generational length. How my very modern sister wound up inadvertently replicating my grandmother’s old practice from rural Ireland, but for completely different reasons. FTR, I first reproduced when I was 27. ---
**Author:** ![JpnDude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/838e76/32.png) [@JpnDude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JpnDude)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2010, 6:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-old-were-your-parents-when-you-were-born-what-was-their-age-difference/552191/107 "2010-09-02T06:07:24Z")
Father was 22. Mother was 25. ---
**Author:** ![Mehitabel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/8797f3/32.png) [@Mehitabel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mehitabel)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2010, 1:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-old-were-your-parents-when-you-were-born-what-was-their-age-difference/552191/108 "2010-09-03T01:27:29Z")
In 1964, Mom was 25, Dad was 27, and they’d been married ten months to the day. 🙂 They had three kids in six years and I’m the oldest. Mom’s parents were 30 and 32 (married late because of the Depression, common back then, first baby) and Dad’s were 34 and 39 (last baby after being married 12 years). ---
**Author:** ![gwendee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/35a633/32.png) [@gwendee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gwendee)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2010, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-old-were-your-parents-when-you-were-born-what-was-their-age-difference/552191/109 "2010-09-03T15:42:37Z")
My parents were both born in 1945 but because my birthday falls in between theirs Dad was 23 and Mom was 22 when I was born. They were 19 and 18 when my sister was born. Mom’s parents were both 22 when my uncle was born, and weeks shy of 25 when my mom was born. I don’t know my paternal grandparents as well but do know that she was 30 when my dad was born and 32 when his brother was born. It was considered late in their family and town to be starting a family but my grandfather had to work for a few years before going to college and they waited to get married until he was all the way through and working. ---
**Author:** ![Katriona](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/katriona/32/113_2.png) [@Katriona](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Katriona)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2010, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-old-were-your-parents-when-you-were-born-what-was-their-age-difference/552191/110 "2010-09-03T16:00:40Z")
Parents have 5 years between them and I was born in 1968. Dad was 30and Mom was 25; they’d been married for 3 years. I missed being born on their anniversary by about 6 hours. My brother was born in 1971. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2010, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-old-were-your-parents-when-you-were-born-what-was-their-age-difference/552191/111 "2010-09-03T19:31:03Z")
I haven’t done the math but I’m generally surprised at the ages here- most are much younger than I’d have expected. Of course most people here being born in the late 20th century when birth control and family planning and all were more reliable probably makes a difference- not as many parents had 10 kids which means not as many had kids in middle age. ---
**Author:** ![Dogzilla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e480ec/32.png) [@Dogzilla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dogzilla)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2010, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-old-were-your-parents-when-you-were-born-what-was-their-age-difference/552191/112 "2010-09-03T19:59:29Z")
My parents were both 25 when I was born. 2 days later, my dad turned 26. 2 days after that, my mom turned 26. Yes, all three of our birthdays are in the same week, the 20th, 22nd, and 24th. My sister hates that. Can’t say I blame her. ---
**Author:** ![kenner116](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecb155/32.png) [@kenner116](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenner116)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2010, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-old-were-your-parents-when-you-were-born-what-was-their-age-difference/552191/113 "2010-09-03T20:43:32Z")
My mom was 33 1/3 and my dad was 59 3/4. A difference of 26 years and almost 5 months. I have 3 half-siblings on my dad’s side, born when my dad was 29, 30(?) and 33. ---
**Author:** ![MovieMogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f08c70/32.png) [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2010, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-old-were-your-parents-when-you-were-born-what-was-their-age-difference/552191/114 "2010-09-03T20:59:08Z")
I’ll have to go through the thread, but I suspect I’ve won something. My Dad was 64. My Mom was 24. And I’m the oldest. ---
**Author:** ![MovieMogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f08c70/32.png) [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2010, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-old-were-your-parents-when-you-were-born-what-was-their-age-difference/552191/115 "2010-09-03T21:02:35Z")
> [@AqualungBats5th](#): > > > [@Heart\_of\_Dorkness](#): > > > > My mom was 37 (about to turn 38) when I was born, and my dad, nine years older, was just a month shy of 47. Seems I always win the old-dad contest. I’m hoping someone here will be able to beat that. > > Yeah, and by a lot. Mom was 31. Dad was 68. Well, looks like I’m in second re: father’s age, but am still in the lead in age difference (40 years and 7 weeks apart). My dad was older than my grandfather. ---
**Author:** ![figure9](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/f0a364/32.png) [@figure9](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/figure9)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2010, 11:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-old-were-your-parents-when-you-were-born-what-was-their-age-difference/552191/116 "2010-09-03T23:31:35Z")
Mom was 37 dad was 35. FWIW my brother is 9 years older than me, and my sister is 9 years younger than me. ---
**Author:** ![Terra1041](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Terra1041](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terra1041)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2010, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-old-were-your-parents-when-you-were-born-what-was-their-age-difference/552191/117 "2010-09-05T19:22:20Z")
My mom was 35, my dad was 34. I have no siblings and my parents didn’t even meet until they were a ways into their 30s. ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2010, 5:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-old-were-your-parents-when-you-were-born-what-was-their-age-difference/552191/118 "2010-09-30T05:48:41Z")
> [@Sampiro](#): > > Whenever I’m helping people do genealogy or when I’m trying to track my own I usually guesstimate 30 years as a generation, slightly more (33 or so) if it’s for a male-male-male direct line. It’s usually right as an average, because most of your ancestors gave birth to or fathered your other ancestors in their 20s or 30s, with women who gave birth in their teens (or before) being offset by women who gave birth at 45 (or after) and men who had kids in their 50s and later usually having _most_ of their kids in their 20s and 30s, so normally if you’re trying to think of how many generations are between you and, say, 1776, you can figure 234/30= 7generations. Thanks to a 2nd cousin’s geneology research I actually have a factual answer about generations now, in regards to my family. [This guy](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samuel_Huntington_(statesman)) was a relative of mine, and now that some of my older cousins have kids there have been 9 generations in my family after his. So 1731 to 2010 is 279/ 9 = 31 years. Looks like my family is very close to yours, reproductively speaking. ---
**Author:** ![KarlGrenze](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/dbc845/32.png) [@KarlGrenze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KarlGrenze)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2010, 6:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-old-were-your-parents-when-you-were-born-what-was-their-age-difference/552191/119 "2010-09-30T06:09:59Z")
For me to find ancestors having more than 6 kids, I have to go back to my great-great grandparents, and even then most likely not, at least from the great-great-grandmothers (great-great grandfathers apparently where womanizers). Dad was 36, mom 33 to 34 when I was born. BUT, my dad had my siblings when he was 23 and 24 years old, with his first wife (who was 24 and 25 then). His parents were 24, 28, and 36 when they had their three kids. My maternal mom was in her early to mid 30s when she had mom and then my aunt, but my grandfather was younger by around 4 years, so he was not yet 30 when mom was born. OTOH, my aunt had her first kid at 19, her last at 25 (three cousins). Of those, most had their kids in their early to mid 20s, except one cousin who had his second son in his 30s (second marriage). I do have relatives that had offsprings over a very extended period. One of my dad’s first cousins should’ve been closer to his age (like dad’s other cousins), but instead, is young enough to be contemporary to my siblings. He is the exception, though. And while I do not know the age when one of my paternal great-grandmothers gave birth, I do know she fudged with her age (greatly), and married in her mid to late 20s instead of in her late teens as she once claimed. So she probably was in her early 30s to maybe her 40s by the time she was done with all the kids (5 or 6). ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2010, 8:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-old-were-your-parents-when-you-were-born-what-was-their-age-difference/552191/120 "2010-09-30T08:53:51Z")
My dad was 26 and my mom was 25 - there’s 11 months between them. They married in 1970, when my dad was a senior in college and my mom was a junior. I’m the oldest of three, and my parents have one grandson with another on the way. All my grandparents came from families of 2-4 children, except for my paternal grandfather, who was 8th of 12. My great-grandmother could have put five stars in her window during WW2, but abstained from doing so out of modesty. my father has more first cousins than he can throw a rock at, and beleive me, he’s tried. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-old-were-your-parents-when-you-were-born-what-was-their-age-difference/552191.md?page=5) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-old-were-your-parents-when-you-were-born-what-was-their-age-difference/552191.md?page=7)