You’re no doubt already aware of the terms ‘Generation X’ and ‘Millennials’, referring to different generations of people. Generation X typically means people born from the mid 1960s until the early 1980s, and Millennials usually refers to people born from the early 1980s until the the late 1990s. But if you were born between 1977 and 1983, do you identify with either of these groups?

Obviously the window between 1977 and 1983 is only 7 years wide, but it’s a generation of people the grew up between two very different generations. We were the bridge from analogue to digital, and it’s because of this that Professor Woodman, an Associate Professor of Sociology, is now classifying us differently.

Think about it for a second. People born between 1977 and 1983 didn’t grow up in the time of technology like a Millennial, but we were still young enough to adapt quickly when they technology revolution hit. We were the last generation to grow up without technology, but also the first to embrace texting, social media and online dating when we reached our twenties.

We remember using walkmans and VCRs, but we also embraced Ipods and DVDs. We recorded songs off the radio when we were kids, but as we got older we loved using iTunes and Spotify.

And it’s for this reason that Professor Woodman is now classifying people born between 1977 and 1983 as Xennials.

Professor Woodman says “The idea is there’s this micro or in-between generation between the Gen X group – who we think of as the depressed flannelette-shirt-wearing, grunge-listening children that came after the Baby Boomers – and the Millennials, who get described as optimistic, tech savvy and maybe a little bit too sure of themselves and too confident.”

But what exactly is a Xennial?

A Xennial is ‘a micro generation born during the cusp years of the Generation X’ers and Millennials’.

They were born between 1977 and 1983 (the years the original Star Wars trilogy was released).

Xennials experienced an analogue childhood and a digital adulthood.

They have both the Generation X cynicism and the Millennial optimism and drive.

Are you a Xennial? If so then welcome to the club! Make sure you spread the news and let your fellow Xennials know about this new select group of very special people.