A supercentenarian is someone who has reached the age of 110 or older. It’s a distinct category within longevity research, separate from centenarians (age 100 and up) and semi-supercentenarians (105 to 109). Reaching 110 is extraordinarily rare, and the people who do are among the most studied individuals in aging science.
How Supercentenarians Are Verified
Claiming to be 110 is one thing. Proving it is another. Because ages this extreme attract attention and sometimes exaggeration, organizations like the Gerontology Research Group (GRG) require extensive documentation before accepting a claim. The process starts with a birth certificate, but that alone isn’t enough. Validators look for records that confirm a person’s age at multiple points throughout their life: census records, marriage licenses, military records, school report cards, old passports, and employment records all serve as supporting evidence.
In a study of 32 verified supercentenarians, 71% had census records supporting their age, 40% had birth certificates, 31% had marriage certificates, and 14% had baptismal records. Validators also use a technique called familial reconstitution, checking whether the ages of parents, siblings, and children make sense relative to the supercentenarian’s claimed birth year. Death dates are confirmed through death certificates, Social Security records, or cemetery and funeral home documentation.
Who the Oldest Verified People Are
As of mid-2025, the oldest verified living person is Ethel Caterham of England, born August 21, 1909, making her 116 years old. She assumed the title after the death of 116-year-old Inah Canabarro Lucas of Brazil in April 2025. The second-oldest verified living person is Naomi Whitehead, born in Georgia in 1910 and now living in Pennsylvania at age 115. Third is Lucia Laura Sangenito of Italy, also 115.
The pattern among top-ranked supercentenarians is consistent: the vast majority are women. Among people born in 1910, for example, U.S. Social Security data estimated that only 14% of those surviving to 100 were men, and that gap widens further at extreme ages. By age 105 and beyond, men make up roughly 10% of survivors. The reasons are partly behavioral (historically, men smoked at much higher rates) and partly biological. Women appear more capable of living with age-related diseases rather than dying from them, a resilience that compounds over decades.
Interestingly, the men who do reach supercentenarian status tend to be in better overall health than their female counterparts. Because so few men survive to these ages, those who do represent an exceptionally select group. By age 110 and above, the differences between male and female supercentenarians largely disappear, with both groups delaying major diseases until around age 106 on average.
Why They Get Sick So Much Later
The defining feature of supercentenarians isn’t just that they live longer. It’s that they stay healthy longer. Research comparing people in their 90s, centenarians, semi-supercentenarians, and supercentenarians found a consistent pattern: the older the age group at death, the later the onset of cancer, heart disease, dementia, stroke, and cognitive decline.
The numbers are striking. Among a control group of typical older adults, 25% had developed cardiovascular disease by about age 75. Among supercentenarians, that same milestone didn’t arrive until age 102, a delay of 27 years. The median age at which supercentenarians first experienced significant morbidity was 109, compared to 95 for centenarians and 71 for controls. In other words, supercentenarians compress their period of illness into a remarkably short window at the very end of life, spending most of their years in relatively good health.
The Role of Genetics
Genetics account for an estimated 15% to 25% of human lifespan variation. That means environment and behavior matter more overall, but certain genetic factors clearly play a role in extreme longevity. After decades of research across multiple populations, only two genes have consistently shown an association with living to very old age.
The first is APOE, which is involved in cholesterol metabolism and has been linked to Alzheimer’s risk. Certain variants of this gene appear protective against age-related disease. The second is FOXO3, part of a signaling pathway that regulates how the body responds to insulin and growth factors. This pathway is ancient in evolutionary terms. Manipulating it in laboratory organisms, from worms to mice, substantially increases lifespan. In humans, a specific FOXO3 variant was first identified in male centenarians of Japanese descent and has since been confirmed across multiple ethnicities and both sexes.
Beyond these two, researchers have found hints of other genes involved in brain cell communication and neural maintenance, but none have replicated consistently enough to be considered confirmed longevity genes. The search continues, but the picture so far suggests that extreme longevity isn’t driven by a single genetic jackpot. It likely involves subtle advantages across multiple systems: stress resistance, immune function, cellular repair, and the maintenance of chromosome protective caps called telomeres.
Lifestyle Patterns and Blue Zones
While no lifestyle formula guarantees reaching 110, studies of long-lived populations reveal common threads. Centenarians and supercentenarians tend to be non-smokers who maintain a healthy weight, eat plant-heavy diets, stay physically active through daily movement rather than formal exercise, and maintain strong social and family connections. High cognitive engagement and a positive outlook also appear frequently in these populations.
Geographically, certain regions produce far more centenarians than expected. These “Blue Zones,” a term coined after researchers circled villages on a map of Sardinia with a blue pen, include Okinawa in Japan, the mountainous interior of Sardinia in Italy, Nicoya in Costa Rica, Ikaria in Greece, and most recently Martinique in the French Caribbean. Martinique’s longevity rate is particularly notable: an analysis of over 2,000 centenarians found that 2,065 per 100,000 people born there between 1907 and 1920 reached age 100, a rate 82% higher than France as a whole. Sardinia’s Blue Zone, covering 44 municipalities in its mountainous regions, produces centenarians at 67% above Italy’s national rate.
These regions share what researchers call the “Power 9”: natural daily movement, a sense of purpose, regular stress relief, eating until about 80% full, a plant-forward diet, moderate alcohol (typically red wine with meals), participation in a faith community, close family ties, and a supportive social circle. None of these are extreme or exotic habits. Their power seems to lie in consistency over a lifetime, reinforced by a culture and physical environment that make healthy choices the default rather than the exception.