Although How I Met Your Mother presented multiple timelines, thankfully, enough details were uncovered to ascertain every main HIMYM character’s age. The sitcom heavily focused on Ted Mosby as he told his two children, Penny and Luke, the expansive tale about how he met their mother. This story was the driving force behind the entire series while Ted from 2030 narrated the show, which was initially set in modern-day 2005. It then followed big events surrounding Ted and his closest friends: Marshall, Lily, Barney, and Robin.
Throughout How I Met Your Mother, these characters’ birthdays were revealed. From this, it’s also possible to deduce how old the main characters were during some of their most important moments. For those rewatching old episodes of the original sitcom or following the ongoing story of How I Met Your Father season 2, here’s how old the main cast of How I Met Your Mother actually were – including their respective ages in the spinoff’s two separate timelines.
How Old Is Ted?
The most Googled person in terms of HIMYM‘s character ages, Ted Mosby’s birthday is April 1978, which made him 27 at the start of the show. Ted ended up meeting Tracy, a.k.a. the “Mother,” on the night of Robin and Barney’s wedding when he was 35. She was born in September 1984, so at that point, she was still 28. Ted was in his mid-to-late 30s when the couple had their kids whereas Tracy was in her early 30s. By the time they got married in 2020, Ted was 42 and Tracy is around 36.
How Old Is Robin?
Out of HIMYM‘s character ages, Robin was the youngest at 25 years old, with a birthday in 1980. Robin and Barney got married in May 2013, making her 33 years old. In March 2022, there was also a Robin cameo in How I Met Your Father season 1, at which point she was around 42. In How I Met Your Mother‘s future timeline, which is set a little later, she’s 50. Robin was notably the first original main cast member to appear in How I Met Your Father.
How Old Is Barney?
The highest number among HIMYM‘s character ages, Barney was the oldest of the group since he was born in 1976, making him around 29 when the show began. When Barney married Robin, he was 37, and Barney became a father at the age of 44 in 2020. In How I Met Your Mother‘s future timeline, Barney is 54 years old. Due to the character’s penchant for keeping secrets, Barney Stinson’s real age was, for a time, a mystery in the show, until his birth year of 1976 was confirmed following reveals about his early life. Apart from Barney’s cameo in the spinoff, in which he is 46, the HIMYF fan theory about Barney being Sophie’s dad shows how Barney’s legend lives on.
How Old Is Lily? (Marshall Is The Same Age)
Marshall and Lily were the same age as Ted since they all met as freshmen in college and were born the same year. Marshall and Lily got married in 2007, making them around the age of 29 at the time of the ceremony. When they had their first child, Marvin Jr., both Lily and Marshall were 34. In the future timeline, HIMYM‘s Marshall and Lily were still happily married at the age of 52, with three kids.
Ted’s Aging Creates Timeline Problems
How I Met Your Mother confirmed that Future Ted was narrating the tale from the year 2030. It’s assumed he was around the age of 52 while Ted’s kids Penny and Luke were 15 and 13. (Unfortunately, after much speculation, it was revealed that Tracy passed away six years prior, at the age of 40). But it presents something of a timeline issue that “old Ted” is the character’s iteration by 2030, whereas he came across as much more youthful only ten years prior – either time was not kind to Ted Mosby, or the character wasn’t aged up consistently.
It could have been that the series never intended to run for as long as it did and explore Ted’s life so far down the line. However, it’s actually been confirmed by the series’ creators that the ending to How I Met Your Mother was planned from the beginning. In the end, Ted’s age timeline problems will remain a bit of an unsolved mystery.
How Old Are The HIMYM Characters During How I Met Your Father
Figuring out HIMYM character ages during How I Met Your Father is a matter of adding 17 years to account for the gap between How I Met Your Mother‘s pilot and the spinoff. As Ted was 27 in 2005, Ted Mosby’s age is 44 during How I Met Your Father’s main 2022 timeline. The same goes for Marshall and Lily who are also 44, while Robin is 42, Barney is 46, and Tracy is 45. The same strategy goes for figuring out the age of these characters in 2050 – a difference of 28 years.
Adding 28 years to his age in How I Met Your Father‘s 2022 timeline, in 2050, Ted Mosby’s age is 72, and so are Marshall and Lily who share Ted’s birth year. Meanwhile, while Sophie herself is 58 years old in Future Sophie’s HIMYF 2050 timeline, Robin would be 70, Barney would be 74, and Tracy would be 73. As both Robin and Barney already made their respective cameos in How I Met Your Father‘s 2022 timeline – along with Carl the bartender from MacLaren’s and The Captain and Becky from the Pineapple Incident – it’s likely just a matter of time before the rest of the main How I Met Your Mother cast appears in the spinoff as well. When that happens, this guide will come in handy in determining their respective ages for context, whichever timeline they may appear.
New episodes of How I Met Your Father stream Tuesdays on Hulu.
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