How old is Meredith Grey in the show?

As the lead of Grey’s Anatomy, Meredith Grey is one of the few characters from season 1 who is still around, but not even Meredith is safe from inconsistencies, and her age is one of those – so, how old is Meredith Grey from Grey’s Anatomy season 1 to 17? Created by Shonda Rhimes, Grey’s Anatomy has become one of the most popular and successful medical dramas in the last decade, and since its premiere in 2005, it has been pretty much unstoppable.

Grey’s Anatomy follows the basic premise of medical dramas, focusing on the lives of surgical interns, residents, and attendings as they try to balance their professional and personal lives, which often overlap and create a lot of drama inside and outside the hospital. Grey’s Anatomy is led by Meredith Grey (Ellen Pompeo), who viewers have seen go from intern to head of general surgery at Grey Sloan Memorial Hospital, and while the series has seen its most popular characters leave (and some in not-so-good ways), Meredith continues to generate all types of stories from both patients and doctors.

Meredith Grey has appeared in almost every episode of Grey’s Anatomy, so the audience has seen her grow in all areas of her life, but her age is rarely mentioned. With over 10 seasons and counting, it’s not surprising that Grey’s Anatomy has a couple of inconsistencies, with Meredith’s age being a minor one. So how old is Meredith Grey? In Grey’s Anatomy season 11, Meredith was confirmed to be born in 1978, meaning that she was 27 years old when she started her internship at Seattle Grace in Grey's Anatomyseason 1. This was confirmed in Grey’s Anatomy season 5, set in 2009, when Meredith told Sadie they were no longer 25, and Lexie (Chyler Leigh) later confirmed Sadie was 30, thus corroborating the age later revealed in season 11.

Meredith Grey's Age Explained

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TV shows rarely last very long. For the hundreds of shows that seem to come out each year, only a select air for multiple seasons. Even fewer air enough episodes for syndication. A smaller club makes it to a decade. Shows like The Simpsons and Law and Order are among that group. 

According to IMDB, Grey’s Anatomy debuted in 2005. That makes this past entry the show’s 17th season on the air. That’s a remarkable achievement for a network TV show.

In an era when limited series and short-run streaming shows are all the rage, Grey’s Anatomy feels like a throwback to a different era. Fans of the show have kept it going strong due to their love of Ellen Pompeo’s depiction of Meredith. 

How old is Ellen Pompeo? 

Pompeo plays Meredith and has for the show’s entire run. In that time, fans have been able to watch her grow along with the events of the show. It’s a rare occasion in TV when fans get to see an actor stay in a role for a decade-plus.

The show’s still insanely popular, and a lot of that is due to Pompeo’s ability to continue playing a compelling lead. 

As far as Pompeo’s age, according to IMDB, she was born on November 10, 1969. That currently makes her 51. Of course, Meredith isn’t Pompeo – she’s a character that Pompeo portrays. So while knowing Pompeo’s age may give viewers a general idea of how old Meredith is, it still doesn’t answer the question that the show has seemingly been unable to answer. 

The answer to the question of how old Meredith is doesn’t have a conclusive answer. Some fans of the show took to Reddit to discuss the issue, and one poster came up with an educated guess: 

“Meredith- Sep 8, 1978- she’s almost 29 at the start” 

Another poster used an event from the show to gauge Meredith’s age: 

“When they introduced Maggie, they said she was born in November 1983, and Meredith was 5, so that would mean she was born in 1978.”

If Meredith truly was 29 at the show’s outset, that would mean she’s now 42. What’s more interesting is how the show has finally caught up to real life. Because of the way the show works, fans never can truly be sure what year it is within the show’s timeline.

After being on the air for well over a decade and a half now, the show has had plenty of subplots throughout its run. Now it has a chance to mirror the real-life headlines by addressing what’s going on with the COVID-19 pandemic. Fans know exactly when the events of this season are taking place: in the present day, 2020-2021. 

It’s unclear how old Meredith is, but one thing is for sure: the show will likely continue going strong as it deals with the fallout of a global infectious disease outbreak. 

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