System and Methods for time-based object aging for generational garbage collectors are provided. Time data is received from a user identifying the amount of time an object should survive in a generation defined in a heap. A circular buffer is generated to store a plurality of starting time for a plurality of garbage collections. Generational garbage collection is performed, and the time data in conjunction with the starting times stored in the circular buffer are used to determine when objects are promoted from one generation to the next oldest generation.