William Strauss and Neil Howe wrote several books on the subject of generations and are widely credited with coining the term '' Millennials '' . Howe has said " No one knows who will name the next generation after the Millennials " . In 2005 , their company sponsored an online contest in which respondents voted overwhelmingly for the name '' Homeland Generation '' . That was not long after the September 11th terrorist attacks , and one fallout of the disaster was that Americans may have felt more safe staying at home . Howe has described himself as " not totally wed " to the name and cautioned that " names are being invented by people who have a great press release . Everyone is looking for a hook . " In 2012 , '' USA Today '' sponsored an online contest for readers to choose the name of the next generation after the Millennials . The name '' Generation Z '' was suggested , although journalist Bruce Horovitz thought that some might find the term " off-putting " . Some other names that were proposed included : '' iGeneration '' , '' Gen Tech '' , '' Gen Wii '' , '' Net Gen '' , '' Digital Natives '' , and '' Plurals ''
September 11th terrorist attacks
September 11 attacks
Generation Z