Some family elder way back in my lineage decided on 岳懷平智 / 岳怀平智 for the batch of generation names that was in use during my time as a child.
1. Thomas's father had the 岳 yuè / "mountain" generation-name character in his name, so he was Generation A.
2. Thomas (born 1950) had the 懷 / 怀 huái / "to embrace / bosom" generation-name character in his Chinese name, therefore Generation B.
3. David (my brother, born 1950) had the 平 píng / "level" generation-name character in his Chinese name, therefore Generation C.
4. Albert (born 1950) had the 智 zhí / "wise / wisdom" generation-name character in his Chinese name, therefore Generation D.
At a quick glance, you can see from the generation names in their Chinese names that the three men -- Thomas, David and Albert, all born in 1950 -- are three generations apart when it comes to their ranking in the genealogy.
In case you're wondering how this has come about, my explanation is: one of the chains (Thomas's, my family's, or Albert's) had been producing faster / slower, i.e., marrying younger / older, and having children younger / older, ending up with three young men born in the same year being in three different generations.
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