If you were born in 1987, you would be 36 years old in 2023. Simple math: 2023 minus 1987 equals 36. But here’s the thing—your age can get a bit tricky depending on when your birthday is.
You are 36 for most of 2023, but you would have been 35 until your birthday in 2023 passed. For example, if your birthday is on August 15, 1987, you were 35 until August 14, 2023, and turned 36 on August 15, 2023.
But it’s not just about the number. We’ll dive into more than just how old you are. We’ll look at the generational context and some key life milestones that come with being this age.
A Step-by-Step Guide to Calculating Age from Any Birth Year
Calculating someone’s age is a simple yet essential skill. Here’s a universal formula: Current Year – Birth Year = Current Age.
First, let’s break it down into easy steps:
Step 1: Take the current year. For this example, we’ll use 2023.
Step 2: Subtract the birth year. Let’s say the birth year is 1987.
Step 3: The result is 36. So, if you were born in 1987, you would be 36 years old in 2023.
But what if their birthday hasn’t happened yet? In that case, subtract one year from the result. This is called a ‘birthday-dependent’ calculation.
Let’s try another example for clarity.
Step 1: Take the year 2025.
Step 2: Subtract the birth year 1995.
Step 3: The result is 30. So, if you were born in 1995, you would be 30 years old in 2025.
Understanding this method is useful, but if you need quick results, you can always use an online age calculator. Still, knowing how to do it manually is a handy life skill.
The Millennial Milestone: What Being 36 Means Today
If you were born in 1987, you’re right in the heart of the Millennial generation. That’s typically defined as those born between 1981 and 1996.
Growing up, we had one foot in the analog world—remember VCRs and cassette tapes? But by the time we hit our teens and early twenties, we were diving headfirst into the digital age. Talk about a unique experience. 1987 age in 2023
Now, at 36, many of us are hitting some significant life milestones.
- Advancing in our careers.
- Buying a home.
- Raising a family.
These are common goals, but they come with their own set of challenges. Balancing personal and professional growth is no small feat.
There’s also a cultural significance to this age. It’s often seen as a bridge between youthful energy and established adulthood. We’re not quite the young, carefree kids anymore, but we’re not fully settled into middle age either.
You might have heard the term “Geriatric Millennial.” It’s a playful way to describe older millennials who remember a pre-internet world. This gives us a unique perspective on technology and how it’s changed our lives.
At 36, we’re in a position to make the most of both worlds. We can appreciate the simplicity of the past while embracing the opportunities of the present. It’s a balancing act, but one that makes us uniquely equipped to navigate the future.
You’re in Good Company: Famous People and Events from 1987

I remember the first time I realized I shared a birth year with Lionel Messi. It was during a soccer game, and I was amazed at how someone my age could be so incredibly talented. Lionel Messi, Blake Lively, Kendrick Lamar, and Tom Felton were all born in 1987, just like me.
1987 was a year of significant global events. The ‘Black Monday’ stock market crash shook the financial world.
The Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty was signed, bringing a bit of hope for peace during a tense time.
In pop culture, 1987 was a blockbuster year. Dirty Dancing and The Princess Bride hit the big screens, becoming instant classics.
U2’s “With or Without You” and Whitney Houston’s “I Wanna Dance with Somebody” dominated the airwaves.
And let’s not forget, The Simpsons made its debut on The Tracey Ullman Show. It’s hard to imagine a world without Homer and Marge now.
Growing up, these cultural touchstones shaped our world. They gave us something to talk about, to bond over, and to remember.
We were 36 years old in 2023, and those early influences still resonate. They remind us of a time when the world was both simpler and more complex, setting the stage for who we are today.
Planning Ahead: Your Age in the Coming Years
Knowing your age is the first step, but understanding its context is what truly matters. If you were born in 1987, then 1987 age in 2023 is 36.
- In 2024: You will be 37.
- In 2025: You will be 38.
- In 2030: You will be 43.
- In 2037: You will be 50.
The coming decades are full of new milestones and experiences to look forward to.


Nicole Pettigrewayde is the kind of writer who genuinely cannot publish something without checking it twice. Maybe three times. They came to game strategy insights through years of hands-on work rather than theory, which means the things they writes about — Game Strategy Insights, Hot Topics in Gaming, Expert Breakdowns, among other areas — are things they has actually tested, questioned, and revised opinions on more than once.
That shows in the work. Nicole's pieces tend to go a level deeper than most. Not in a way that becomes unreadable, but in a way that makes you realize you'd been missing something important. They has a habit of finding the detail that everybody else glosses over and making it the center of the story — which sounds simple, but takes a rare combination of curiosity and patience to pull off consistently. The writing never feels rushed. It feels like someone who sat with the subject long enough to actually understand it.
Outside of specific topics, what Nicole cares about most is whether the reader walks away with something useful. Not impressed. Not entertained. Useful. That's a harder bar to clear than it sounds, and they clears it more often than not — which is why readers tend to remember Nicole's articles long after they've forgotten the headline.
