The best answer is "check a dictionary" and I'll do that in a moment. It isn't a word that's used in the U.S. in ordinary life, but I would say "late adolescence and early youth," perhaps ages 17 to 24. Of course, a person of any age at all _can_ be called a "boy" so I suppose a man of any age _can_ be called a lad. And here is what the American Heritage dictionary (ahdictionary.com) says. I got it right! 1. A boy or young man. 2. (Informal) A man of any age; a fellow. Since I think of it as Scottish, or perhaps British Midlands usage, I think I'd better check OxfordDictionaries.com (informal) A boy or young man (often as a form of address) ‘come in, lad, and shut the door’ (British) A group of men sharing recreational, working, or other interests. ‘she wouldn't let him go out with the lads any more’ (British) A young man who is boisterously macho. ‘Tony was a bit of a lad—always had an eye for the women’ (British) A stable worker (regardless of age or sex) ‘it's great for the lads that the horse has won the National’ Dictionaries are great! And you can access several good ones online at no cost.

At 70,I'm a black Canadian man who can definitely be called a handsome older lad.

Yeah, that's purely a British term that we don't have, unfortunately, in the US, because I do think it's kind of cute. It's sort of like "mate", another one of my favorites that we don't have in the States. Too bad. I've heard lad used mostly for young men, but occasionally I've heard it for guys a bit older, "The lads are doing something" I suppose. In that case, I would think it refers to adults, but probably younger guys in their 20s. I doubt an older guy in his 50s would be called a "lad." So, I have to defer totally to the Brits on this one! I can't think of anything we have in the US that they don't have in Britain that's similar. We used to refer to young women as "gals" but that sounds like something my 90 year old mom would say. Or "fellas". Maybe they have those in Britain too, I don't know, but they're archaic here anyway. We've got some awful expressions like "my homie", which the youth culture in Germany has picked up, which is like Los Angeles African American Ghetto talk. We don't originate great words in the US.

Lad is a boy from maybe 5 years old to 20 years old