# Who has the largest age gap between siblings? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [July 10, 2007, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-has-the-largest-age-gap-between-siblings/411225 "2007-07-10T16:56:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Omega\_Glory](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/7c8e57/32.png) [@Omega\_Glory](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omega_Glory)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2007, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-has-the-largest-age-gap-between-siblings/411225/1 "2007-07-10T16:56:58Z")
The poll question is in the title. For people who are several years older/younger than a sibling: 1. Are you two close? I’ve been surprised to meet quite a few people who have siblings who are ten, fifteen or even twenty years older or younger. Most times it’s a case where a parent has gotten a divorce and started a new family. So another question: 2. are you all part of the same family unit, or is it a half sibling? If you have children who have a large age difference feel free to answer for them. ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2007, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-has-the-largest-age-gap-between-siblings/411225/2 "2007-07-10T16:59:04Z")
I’ll start, but I’m sure I’ll be beaten out rather quickly. My son was 12 the day my daughter was born. And, yes, they’re half-siblings. ---
**Author:** ![ErinPuff](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/dbc845/32.png) [@ErinPuff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ErinPuff)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2007, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-has-the-largest-age-gap-between-siblings/411225/3 "2007-07-10T17:02:15Z")
I’m ten years older than my sister (I’m 21, she’ll be 11 next month). We also have a brother (19). We all have the same parents. I wouldn’t say my sister and I are close–I’m away at college most of the year, and we just don’t have much in common at the moment. We’re usually pretty nice to each other, though, aside from the usual “stop poking me” stuff. ---
**Author:** ![plnnr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7ea924/32.png) [@plnnr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/plnnr)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2007, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-has-the-largest-age-gap-between-siblings/411225/4 "2007-07-10T17:02:26Z")
My aunt was 36 years older than my uncle (her youngest brother). Yes, they were half-siblings. ---
**Author:** ![Omega\_Glory](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/7c8e57/32.png) [@Omega\_Glory](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omega_Glory)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2007, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-has-the-largest-age-gap-between-siblings/411225/5 "2007-07-10T17:03:30Z")
I forgot to add my own response. I’ve all ready been beaten by **WhyNot’s** kids (and a lot of folks who snuck in while I was posting) but my sister and I are eleven years apart. We’re fairly close considering she’s a teen and I’m an adult. We share the same parents. My oldest half sibling is 18 years older than my sister. They’ve never met. ---
**Author:** ![Sarahfeena](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sarahfeena/32/519_2.png) [@Sarahfeena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sarahfeena)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2007, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-has-the-largest-age-gap-between-siblings/411225/6 "2007-07-10T17:03:31Z")
My husband & his brother are 9 years apart…they are full siblings, and they are not close. But I think this has more to do with basic personality differences than the age gap. ---
**Author:** ![alphaboi867](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alphaboi867/32/3898_2.png) [@alphaboi867](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alphaboi867)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2007, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-has-the-largest-age-gap-between-siblings/411225/7 "2007-07-10T17:10:28Z")
I only have half-siblings; 2 brothers and a sister. The brother closest in age to me is 13 years older, my sister is the oldest. Right now I’m 22 and they range in age from 35 to 41. Growing up I never considered them peers. They were authority figures along the lines of aunts and uncles. Both brothers had moved out before I was 5 and my sister always lived with her mother. It doesn’t help that I have nieces about the same age as me (1 year older in one case and 2 years younger in the others). ---
**Author:** ![Antinor01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecae2f/32.png) [@Antinor01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Antinor01)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2007, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-has-the-largest-age-gap-between-siblings/411225/8 "2007-07-10T17:15:44Z")
I have three siblings, all half though they are full siblings to each other. I am 31 (for another week or so), next brother is 26, sister 21 and little brother 14. ---
**Author:** ![plnnr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7ea924/32.png) [@plnnr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/plnnr)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2007, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-has-the-largest-age-gap-between-siblings/411225/9 "2007-07-10T17:16:30Z")
Even more interesting in the age difference between my aunt and uncle, was the age difference between my aunt and my grandmother (her step-mother). My grandmother was only 5 years older than her step-child. ---
**Author:** ![ASAKMOTSD](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/919ad9/32.png) [@ASAKMOTSD](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ASAKMOTSD)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2007, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-has-the-largest-age-gap-between-siblings/411225/10 "2007-07-10T17:29:40Z")
My oldest brother is 16 years older than I am, my sister is 12 years older, my other brother is 7 year older. I really did not “know” my oldest brother as I grew up. He was kind of like “Mike” on My Three Sons - he was gone to college. Over the years he has become a very significant voice in my life. He gives me advice & counsel that I really should have been able to expect from my father. I really appreciate him being there for me & I try to be there for him as well. My other two sibs? Well, they see me as being “16 years old” in perpetuity. Hence, I have little to do with them and little use for them being in my life. (That sounds harsh - just the way it is, though). ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2007, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-has-the-largest-age-gap-between-siblings/411225/11 "2007-07-10T17:38:19Z")
I’m 19¾ years younger than my oldest sibling; all ten of us have the same parents. We span DC to southern California, Chicago to Texas shore. The ones that are closest geographically have always tended to be closest relationshipwise as well. ---
**Author:** ![pendgwen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3da27b/32.png) [@pendgwen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pendgwen)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2007, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-has-the-largest-age-gap-between-siblings/411225/12 "2007-07-10T17:40:45Z")
I am 12 years older than my youngest sibling. We’re all pretty close. In my dad’s family the youngest and oldest kids are more than 20 years apart. Full siblings in all cases. ---
**Author:** ![RedRosesForMe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/91b2a8/32.png) [@RedRosesForMe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RedRosesForMe)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2007, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-has-the-largest-age-gap-between-siblings/411225/13 "2007-07-10T17:49:33Z")
I’m the youngest of 4. My older brother is 15 years my senior, my oldest sister 12, and my other sister only 4 years older than me. All from the same parents, who apparently thought they were done at 2 kids but then had a couple of surprises later on down the road. I don’t really recall living with my brother, he was off to college when I was a toddler. Both of my sisters lived with my parents well into their 20s, though, so I am much closer with them. ---
**Author:** ![dwc1970](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a183cd/32.png) [@dwc1970](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dwc1970)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2007, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-has-the-largest-age-gap-between-siblings/411225/14 "2007-07-10T17:56:07Z")
My dad came from a large family, all from the same parents due in part to lack of the availability of birth control and the fact that they lived on a farm and needed several helping hands. My dad was the youngest among nine children. The oldest is 16 years his senior. Since my dad’s mother died when he was two and his dad was often busy with farmwork, my aunt (the oldest) assumed a more maternal role within the family. ---
**Author:** ![FatBaldGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ecd19e/32.png) [@FatBaldGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FatBaldGuy)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2007, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-has-the-largest-age-gap-between-siblings/411225/15 "2007-07-10T17:58:34Z")
My wife is 12 years younger than her older sister (with 3 brothers in between). Then there is a 12 year gap between her and her younger brother (a surprise baby). So 24 years total spread between oldest and youngest. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2007, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-has-the-largest-age-gap-between-siblings/411225/16 "2007-07-10T18:01:54Z")
I’m 25, my middle brother is 23, and my much-posted-about youngest brother will be 15 later this month. We all have the same parents. There was a similar oldest-to-youngest gap in my dad’s family. In some ways I’m closer to my younger brother than the middle one: we were never in direct competition, so there’s no sibling rivalry to speak of. We compete in tennis and that’s about it. He looks up to me and we get along very well. ---
**Author:** ![norinew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/eb9ed0/32.png) [@norinew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/norinew)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2007, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-has-the-largest-age-gap-between-siblings/411225/17 "2007-07-10T18:06:43Z")
I’m the youngest of five children. My oldest sister was 13 when I was born. We were very close when I was growing up, because my mother was insane, and my oldest sister took it upon herself to half-raise me. (all the same parents). My oldest daughter was 12 when my youngest daughter was born. They are not close. (same parents). My hubby’s family has the biggest age difference I know of: there’s 24 years between my MIL’s oldest and youngest children. That was a case of my MIL being married, having three children, divorcing, remarrying, and having three more children. The younger siblings have never been particularly close to the older siblings. ---
**Author:** ![MandaJo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ac91a4/32.png) [@MandaJo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MandaJo)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2007, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-has-the-largest-age-gap-between-siblings/411225/18 "2007-07-10T18:14:27Z")
There is almost exactly 20 years between my mom’s oldest sibling and her youngest sibling–all same parents, 12 kids. An interesting side effect is that the oldest grandchild (currently) is 40 and the youngest is under a year. ---
**Author:** ![Guy\_Incognito](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guy_incognito/32/3920_2.png) [@Guy\_Incognito](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guy_Incognito)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2007, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-has-the-largest-age-gap-between-siblings/411225/19 "2007-07-10T18:22:46Z")
I’m from a family of ten children. My oldest brother is 20 years older than my youngest brother. (Incidentally, I’m #9 in the litter.) ---
**Author:** ![muldoonthief](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muldoonthief/32/3188_2.png) [@muldoonthief](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/muldoonthief)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2007, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-has-the-largest-age-gap-between-siblings/411225/20 "2007-07-10T18:28:02Z")
My oldest brothers are 25 & 24 years older than my youngest sister. All from the same pair of parents. She’s not close to the oldest brother, but fairly close to the second oldest one. That’s probably just an accident of circumstances - the oldest was married and raising his own family when she was born (in fact, she has a niece who is 2 year older than her), but the second oldest was in grad school and back at the parents fairly frequently. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-has-the-largest-age-gap-between-siblings/411225.md?page=2)