What is it about older people’s voices that makes it sound, well, old?

If you heard this woman’s voice without seeing her face, you would just know she’s named something like Agnes or Debbie rather than, say, a Caitlyn (plot twist: her real name is Kylie). But what is it about her voice that makes us think it belongs to an older person?

As Reddit user the_lemon_king asked in the Explain It Like I’m Five community:

“I’m 21-years-old and my voice would never be mistaken for that of a 40-year-old. What is it about voices besides pre/post-pubescent pitch that indicates age but that I just can’t put my finger on?” (Hold on a second: This youngin’ thinks 40 is old?).

The user, however, may be onto something. As if we didn’t have enough things to worry about when it comes to growing older, our voices do indeed change with age. In fact, there’s a scientific word for older voices. Amee Shah, Stockton University associate professor and Director of the Cross-Cultural Speech, Language, and Acoustics Lab, says it’s called presbyphonia (a word which is difficult to say whether you’re young or old).

So what does Shah mean, exactly, by an “old” voice? While you may notice changes in your voice as early as 40 (your muscle coordination starts to slow down), the change is not really noticeable to the untrained ear until you reach your 50s. By the time you’re in your 60s or 70s, you develop an “old” (or “distinguished”) voice. When you’re 70, you’ll start to get “vocal tremors,” which explains that shaky, crackling stereotypical grandma or grandpa voice that we’re all familiar with.

How does this differ from a young adult’s voice? Shah tells Upvoted that people in their 20s and 30s have a certain pattern to their voices, a more “animated” way of speaking. We’re able to speak faster and louder than a senior citizen because our vocal cords actually move faster. And since our vocal endurance is high, we can blab your ears off for long periods of time without rest.

Ever wonder why rock stars from the 1970s lose a certain “oomph” during comeback concerts? Seeing them perform decades after their hey days is just not the same. In fact, their voices have literally just become more tired. Older people can’t scream or yell as loud as when they were young (though Mick Jagger would disagree with this sentiment).



(Looks aside, Iggy pop just doesn’t sound as punk as he used to).

The biggest change, however, is in the pitch of our voices. Contrary to what you’d think, men’s voices actually become higher-pitched with age while women’s vocal pitches become lower. Pitches start to change around the age of 40, but Nana’s husky and hoarse voice doesn’t kick in until about age 65.

So what’s going on in our bodies to cause such a dramatic change?

A bunch of things. For one, we lose vocal muscle mass with age. Our vocal cords turn drier, since we also lose lubrication. And as we mentioned previously, your vocal cords can’t move as fast, making it more difficult to experiment with your voice or perform “vocal gymnastics” as Shah likes to describe it.

But the difference between an old and young person’s voice is not only physical. It’s also cultural. Ever wonder why actors in 1930s or even 1960s films sound so weird and unfamiliar?

Of course, we all know words and slang evolve over time. But dialects and vocal inflictions can also change from one decade to the next. Think of the high-pitched valley girl accent from the ’80s and ’90s. It’s probably the most recognizable accent from a particular decade, which is now fading with time after it fell out of favor, says Shah.

Based on the way somebody speaks and the vocabulary that they use, “You can tell what era somebody is from,” Shah says.

Unless you play World of Warcraft. As one Reddit user described her predicament: