What's the earliest thing you remember? We at YouGov asked Americans, and found that representative answers include childhood toys, quiet moments with parents, and distinctive sights, sounds, and physical sensations.

But for many Americans, what they remember from childhood isn't very much. 3% of Americans say they don't remember anything from when they were 16, and 52% say they remember only a little. 41% remember a lot from when they were 16.

Memories from age six are rarer. 24% of Americans say they remember nothing from when they were six, while 59% remember a little and only 9% say they remember a lot.

Most Americans (61%) say that overall, their childhood memories are predominantly positive; 13% say they're mostly negative. 17% say their childhood memories are neither mostly positive nor mostly negative.

Older Americans are more likely than younger adults to say their childhood memories are mostly positive: 65% of those 45 and older say this, compared to 57% of adults under 45.

There's also a split on childhood memories based on political ideology. While majorities of Americans across the political spectrum say their childhood memories are mostly positive, the share is lowest among very liberal Americans. 52% of them say their childhood memories are mostly positive and 21% say they're mostly negative. That's much less positive than Americans who are liberal but not very liberal (67% vs. 11%), moderates (58% vs. 13%), conservatives who aren't very conservative (68% vs. 10%), and those who are very conservative (69% vs. 12%).

Younger adults are more likely than older Americans to say they remember a lot from their childhood — but only by a little. 47% of adults under 30 say they remember a lot from when they were 16, compared to 39% of older Americans.

We found much more variation when looking at differences between Americans who closely follow the news and those who don't. 49% of Americans who say they follow what's going on in government and public affairs most of the time say they remember a lot from when they were 16, compared to only 26% of those who hardly ever follow government news. (Like with all the connections between childhood memories and other personal characteristics, it's unclear whether one factor is causing the other or if some third factor contributes to both.)

Americans who say their childhood memories are mostly positive are more likely to say they remember a lot from when they were 16 (47%) than those whose memories are mostly negative (39%) or those who say their childhood memories are neither positive nor negative (33%).

See the full results of this poll:

As part of a new product at YouGov, we went beyond just asking Americans these questions, which were the same for each respondent and showed a set of fixed options for each. We also used YouGov's new AI Interviewer to have open-ended conversations with some of the respondents about their earliest childhood memories. Each interview started with a simple open-ended question, with the same text for each respondent, just as surveys have used for decades. In this case, the opening question for everyone was, "To start us off, what is the earliest thing you can remember?" But the AI Interviewer can ask follow-ups, nudging respondents to explain more or put their answers in context.

For example, a woman in her 60s with mostly positive childhood memories said her earliest memory is flying in an airplane as a two-year-old. In response to follow-up questions, she explained how the feel of the airplane's taking off and landing sticks in her mind — as does the memory of "running up and down the aisles of the plane (I was not restricted by seatbelts!)."

A 30-something man said his childhood memories are neither mostly positive nor mostly negative, but that he clearly remembers playing Super Mario World after getting it for Christmas at age five. "I remember I was hesitant about it at first as I had no experience with video games before then but I gradually warmed up to it and eventually really enjoyed it," he said after being asked to share more. To this day, he said, Super Mario World "is the reason why I like video games."

YouGov used an AI agent to classify the 1,129 conversations. It found common themes in these earliest memories include vivid sensory details and special rituals with parents. For example, a man in his 60s remembers sitting at the dinner table squishing peas between his fingers. "I remember Momma being not happy about it but not being angry either," he said after being asked for more details. "I remember thinking the peas felt good going between my fingers."

Negative emotions such as childhood fear or family disruptions are less common but still present in a significant share of responses. For example, a man in his 30s whose childhood memories are mostly positive said his earliest memory is getting separated from his parents in a store as a three-year-old. "I was looking at something in a clothing rack and decided to go inside the clothing rack. When I got outside of the rack my mom and dad were gone and I was panicking," he said. "I think fear stuck with me because it was such a shocking feeling compared to happiness or comfort."

Methodology: The Daily Questions survey was conducted online on May 13 - 14, 2026, among 7,356 U.S. adults. The samples were weighted according to gender, age, race, education, U.S. Census region, and political party. The margin of error is approximately 1.5%.

Image: Getty (d3sign)

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