How old do you have to be to know?

[d3v1l]

I'm 14 and have only recently found out about asexual and seem to feel as though I fit more than any others (heterosexual, homosexual, bisexual etc.). But how old do I have to be without sexual attraction to feel sure enough I am asexual to tell someone? Please help

[TheAP]

It's okay to call yourself asexual, even if you're young. If you end up deciding that another label fits better, that's perfectly okay.

[Philip027]

If you're old enough to understand sexual orientations and what they mean, you're old enough to know what yours is.

 

No matter how old you get, someone will always be telling you that maybe you just haven't met the right person.  It's not a good enough reason to avoid self identification.

[Guest]

37.

 

Just kidding. TheAP and Philip027's answers both covered everything, I think.

[cinary]

I agree, and even of you wil start to feel sexual attraction at some point in your life (or just teenage years), you can just change the label, that's completely okay. But when can you be sure? It's different for everyone and if you were, like, 10 I'd say that you should wait but at 14, well it can change, sure, but I think that if you are old enough to start question yourself then you are old enoug to choose your own label  

[MisterSpencer]

I was about 55 years old when I realised I was asexual.

 

That's 7 years ago.

 

That said, I've only been active sexually for about 2 hours in my entire life.  So what took me so long I don't know.  Maybe I was thinking I was too ugly for women to fancy me but it wasn't that.  I just wasn't giving off the normal signals of sexual interest. And of course I never got myself into sexual situations. I say that, but it's happened twice in my life but nothing more.

[Guest]

94 and not a day younger

[AussieIsAce]

i found out i was asexual when i was 9 years old but i kinda always knew i didnt want to have sex.

i came out at 11 so at 14 i reckon you should be fine but it is more up to you. if you know then ya know. 

[everywhere and nowhere]

There is never an exact age to be defined. One can be sure about being ace at the age of 8 and one can "awaken sexually" at 60. There is no norm for that, every experience is valid. If you prefer to identify as asexual, don't let anyone tell you that "you're too young for that". People are dismissive because they don't accept asexuality, but an individual always knows best about hir inner life.

[Blue Phoenix Ace]

I just dug up an old study about age of first sexual attraction.

 

http://homepage.univie.ac.at/michael.berger/lit/McClintock.pdf

 

There are several numbers there depending on your own gender and the gender you would be attracted to. But, to simplify, the mean is roughly 10 years old, with a standard deviation of 3.6 years. At 14 years old, you'd be at the mean plus one standard deviation of age, but what does that mean?

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Standard_deviation

 

Roughly 16% of a sample group lies above the mean plus one standard deviation mark. So, based on this study, you should be 84% sure you're asexual.  In another 3.6 years, you'll be at two standard deviations, where you jump way up there to 97.8%. If you're ignorant like me, you won't be sure until you are 37 (seven standard deviations gosh), but it sounds like you're well ahead of that.