The Name Game

So “MTV Generation” doesn’t sound quite right? Try one of these nicknames--culled from the media and conversations with culture observers--for people in their 20s.

Age of Indifference--from a 1990 Times Mirror study of apathy among 18- to 30-year-olds

Blank Generation--from a song by Richard Hell and the Voidoids

Baby Busters--because, compared to the baby boomers, there are so few of them

Born to be Mild Generation--in reference to their moderate lifestyles

Boomerang Generation--based on their tendency to skip from job to job and relationship to relationship

Moral Mutants--from a 1990 study suggesting that 18- to 30-year-olds “lack commitment to core moral values such as honesty, respect for others

Post-Vietnam Generation

Post-boomers

Twentysomethings

Generation X--from Douglas Coupland’s novel “Generation X: Takes For an Accelerated Culture” (St. Martin’s Press)