How rare is your birthday
How rare is your birthday
How popular is your birthday?
A peak in births in late September show that more babies are conceived in the weeks leading up to and days after Christmas than at any other time of the year.
18 December 2015
A peak in births in late September show that more babies are conceived in the weeks leading up to and days after Christmas than at any other time of the year.
How popular do you think your own birthday is? Find out with our interactive graphic
Average daily births, England and Wales, 1995 to 2014
Technically February 29 has the lowest number of births over the 20 year period, but we are reporting the average which adjusts for the number of times the day occurs over the period.
September 26 most popular day to be born over the last two decades
September 26 was the most popular day to be born over the last two decades, which falls 39 weeks and two days after Christmas day.
8 of the top 10 dates of birth were towards the end of September – with the other 2 being early October. Part of the reason for this increase in births could be due to couples planning to have children at the start of the school year. 1
If births were evenly distributed throughout the year we would expect on average 1,800 births each day. But the average number of births on September 26 was around 2,000.
England and Wales is not the only country to have seen this trend. Similar analysis using data for New Zealand and the U.S shows a larger number of babies born in September.
Babies born over the Christmas holidays
Average daily births, England and Wales, 1995 to 2014
While the Christmas holidays may be a popular time to make a baby there tend to be fewer babies born, with 6 of the 10 least popular dates of birth falling in the Christmas and New Year period.
This is likely to be due to the large number of bank holidays over the period. Hospitals will generally only be delivering natural births and carrying out emergency caesareans over the holidays. Induced births and elective caesareans are likely to be scheduled on alternative dates.
February 29 has the lowest total number of births over the twenty year period because it only occurs once every 4 years. However, the average number of births on February 29 takes into account the day only occurs on a leap year, resulting in a value just under the overall daily average.
Interestingly April 1 is ranked low, perhaps due to parents electing not to have an April Fool’s Day baby where possible.
One born every minute
Over the past 20 years there were 8 days where 1,440 babies were born. On these days, to coin a phrase there was one born every minute:
Contrary to the saying, over the last two decades,on average a baby has been born every
This Is the Least Common Birthday in the U.S. (No, It’s Not Leap Day)
Your birthday is extra special if you were born on one of these rare dates.
Birthdays always seem to fall on random days, which makes for a great excuse to celebrate during an otherwise slow time of the year. However, a select few people are born on rather rare dates. In fact, according to Zippia, a career research company that created a birthday heat map using the most recent decade-long data from the Social Security Administration and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)’s National Center for Health Statistics, the least common birthdays are on or around popular holidays, including Independence Day, Thanksgiving, Christmas, and more. Read on and discover which birthdays are the rarest as well as how many babies, on average, are born on the same day. And on the opposite end of the spectrum, This Is the Most Common Birthday in the U.S.
Average number of births per year: 10,462
And if you were born in the 20th century, you’ll likely relate to these Photos That Kids Born After 2000 Will Never Understand.
Average number of births per year: 10,404
Average number of births per year: 10,401
And for more nostalgia from days gone by, check out The Best Slang Terms From the 1990s That Aren’t Cool Today.
Average number of births per year: 10,394
Average number of births per year: 10,389
Average number of births per year: 10,338
And for more useful information delivered straight to your inbox, sign up for our daily newsletter.
Average number of births per year: 10,300
Average number of births per year: 10,096
Average number of births per year: 10,044
Average number of births per year: 10,015
Average number of births per year: 9,978
Average number of births per year: 9,954
Average number of births per year: 9,883
Average number of births per year: 9,718
Average number of births per year: 9,543
Average number of births per year: 9,307
Average number of births per year: 8,796
Average number of births per year: 8,069 ae0fcc31ae342fd3a1346ebb1f342fcb
Average number of births per year: 7,792
Average number of births per year: 6,574
And for more old-school sayings you wish were still around, check out the Slang Terms From the 20th Century No One Uses Anymore.
How Rare Is Your Birthday?
Find out how rare your birthday is with statistics provided by the Association for Healthcare Security
This information allows us to find the most popular and rare birth dates from the last 20 years.
Do you want to know how common is your birthday? Or determine the degree of its rarity?
Have you ever wondered about how many people were born on the same day, at the same hour, or even minute as you? Occasionally we meet people who have their birthday on the same day as ours. Many of our friends have birthdays on the same date. One would assume that there is generally the same amount of children born every single day. But does that actually occur in reality?
It turns out there are actually several popular dates when more children are born
There are also many unpopular dates, when less babies are born. The Association for Healthcare Security decided to combine all of their birth data for the period between 1994 to 2014. Similar research was done in New Zealand, however the results weren’t as extensive as the research from the USA.
You will be completely surprised by this visual chart based on the data derived from around 500 000 birthdays!
visual chart based on the information about 500 000 birthdays
The darker the square, the more babies that were born on that day
According to this study, the most popular birthday is the 9 th of September (12301 people out of the 500000), while the least popular is the 25 th of December (just 6574 people out of the 500000). The top 9 popular dates on the chart are all in September!
These results prove that humanity has discovered how to control the birth rate, and researchers have been able to draw several important conclusions!
The Holidays are a great time to plan a baby.
American researchers decided to compare the most popular dates with the probable days of conception. It turns out that kids born in September were “created” during the Christmas and New Year holidays.
most popular birthday is the 9th of September
Holidays are not the preferred time to give birth
The number of babies born during the Christmas and New Year holidays is twice as low than on any other day. One exception, however, is Saint Valentine’s Day. Doctors are sinisterly playing a part in the planning process in order to avoid certain key holiday dates. The doctors dangerously increase the speed of the birth process, or schedule risky caesarean sections, only so that they, and the mothers, can avoid spending time in the hospital during the holidays.
You can study the statistics on the Global Population Project in order to discover how many people were born on the very same day as you. The system also incorporates date from the UN to calculate the longevity of your life.
The Most (And Least) Common Birthdays In The US
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Summary
9 out of 10 of the most common birthdays are in September.
However, August is the most commmon birth month, with an average of 361,709 August babies each year in the United States.
February is the least common birth month, with avereage of 316,891 babies born in February annually.
Tuesday is the most common day of the week for births in America.
The highest percentage of births occur at 8 a.m. and noon.
There were 3,659,289 births in the United States in 2021
The ratio of sexes at birth is 1.05 males per 1 female in the U.S.
Happy birthday to you, and you, and many more.
It’s not uncommon to share a birthday with someone you know. Anyone who has ever had a communal office birthday cake knows some months the cake has more names iced on than others.
It turns out, it’s not just days that are more common, but some months (And one in particular!) are booming when it comes to births and some months when the delivery room is downright slow.
The 10 Most Popular Birthdays
September is a busy month for delivering babies! And for birthday cakes, party hats, and other birthday related accessories. 9 of the 10 most popular birthdays are in September. The one not in September? July 7th, just 3 days after Independence Day.
For those struggling to do the math, 9 months before these popular September birthdays is a slew of December dates, including December 25th.
Which is kind of funny, considering the least popular birth dates…
10 Least Popular Birthdays
While holidays are a popular time for baby making, babies are less likely to be born on popular holidays. Christmas, New Years, Christmas Eve, July 4th, Halloween, and some suspiciously Thanksgiving days all make the top 10 least common birthdays.
In a world of scheduled c-sections and inductions, doctors and delivery staff prefer to be home with their families on the big holidays than helping expand someone else’s families. Another day where births are less common? The 13th. Guess people are still superstitious about the “unlucky” day.
How We Determined This (And The Full Calendar)
To rank the most common birthdays, we used data aggregated by FiveThirtyEight on the number of births on each day between 1994 to 2014..
This data set took birth data for the years 1994 to 2003, from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s National Center for Health Statistics. U.S. births data for births between 2000 to 2014 came from the Social Security Administration. The more babies born on average, the more common the birthday.
The calendar featured at the top of the article is a simple heat map of the data. The deeper the blue, the more people with that birth date. The deeper red, the less birth dates. It is worth noting that the deepest red is for months with no 31st day.
You can see the full calendar year and how common of a birthday your special day is below.
How common of a birth date is each day in the calendar year?
Birth Date | Popularity | Average Births |
---|---|---|
1/1 | 365th | 7,792 |
1/2 | 362nd | 9,307 |
1/3 | 306th | 10,813 |
1/4 | 209th | 11,019 |
1/5 | 237th | 10,953 |
1/6 | 259th | 10,911 |
1/7 | 255th | 10,925 |
1/8 | 343rd | 10,610 |
1/9 | 340th | 10,624 |
1/10 | 207th | 11,023 |
1/11 | 230th | 10,975 |
1/12 | 248th | 10,934 |
1/13 | 342nd | 10,622 |
1/14 | 228th | 10,976 |
1/15 | 346th | 10,546 |
1/16 | 341st | 10,623 |
1/17 | 264th | 10,901 |
1/18 | 278th | 10,883 |
1/19 | 332nd | 10,691 |
1/20 | 301st | 10,825 |
1/21 | 302nd | 10,824 |
1/22 | 334th | 10,673 |
1/23 | 285th | 10,865 |
1/24 | 199th | 11,049 |
1/25 | 240th | 10,951 |
1/26 | 295th | 10,843 |
1/27 | 303rd | 10,823 |
1/28 | 297th | 10,835 |
1/29 | 345th | 10,567 |
1/30 | 318th | 10,752 |
1/31 | 278th | 10,883 |
2/1 | 251st | 10,929 |
2/2 | 242nd | 10,949 |
2/3 | 295th | 10,843 |
2/4 | 261st | 10,905 |
2/5 | 333rd | 10,685 |
2/6 | 311th | 10,794 |
2/7 | 164th | 11,149 |
2/8 | 195th | 11,063 |
2/9 | 272nd | 10,893 |
2/10 | 211th | 11,015 |
2/11 | 211th | 11,015 |
2/12 | 269th | 10,898 |
2/13 | 344th | 10,604 |
2/14 | 63rd | 11,636 |
2/15 | 150th | 11,188 |
2/16 | 244th | 10,948 |
2/17 | 291st | 10,854 |
2/18 | 246th | 10,940 |
2/19 | 334th | 10,673 |
2/20 | 277th | 10,886 |
2/21 | 216th | 11,008 |
2/22 | 182nd | 11,111 |
2/23 | 253rd | 10,927 |
2/24 | 262nd | 10,904 |
2/25 | 231st | 10,974 |
2/26 | 325th | 10,727 |
2/27 | 288th | 10,858 |
2/28 | 198th | 11,053 |
2/29 | 347th | 10,462 |
3/1 | 174th | 11,129 |
3/2 | 309th | 10,802 |
3/3 | 190th | 11,074 |
3/4 | 225th | 10,989 |
3/5 | 227th | 10,979 |
3/6 | 256th | 10,921 |
3/7 | 184th | 11,087 |
3/8 | 228th | 10,976 |
3/9 | 316th | 10,765 |
3/10 | 246th | 10,940 |
3/11 | 249th | 10,931 |
3/12 | 219th | 11,003 |
3/13 | 338th | 10,654 |
3/14 | 178th | 11,119 |
3/15 | 215th | 11,011 |
3/16 | 314th | 10,773 |
3/17 | 169th | 11,137 |
3/18 | 236th | 10,954 |
3/19 | 258th | 10,914 |
3/20 | 219th | 11,003 |
3/21 | 153rd | 11,181 |
3/22 | 233rd | 10,967 |
3/23 | 322nd | 10,739 |
3/24 | 256th | 10,921 |
3/25 | 231st | 10,974 |
3/26 | 276th | 10,888 |
3/27 | 271st | 10,895 |
3/28 | 201st | 11,045 |
3/29 | 284th | 10,873 |
3/30 | 328th | 10,714 |
3/31 | 313th | 10,779 |
4/1 | 353rd | 10,300 |
4/2 | 217th | 11,004 |
4/3 | 267th | 10,899 |
4/4 | 144th | 11,219 |
4/5 | 266th | 10,900 |
4/6 | 339th | 10,639 |
4/7 | 287th | 10,859 |
4/8 | 275th | 10,890 |
4/9 | 298th | 10,830 |
4/10 | 300th | 10,826 |
4/11 | 196th | 11,059 |
4/12 | 237th | 10,953 |
4/13 | 351st | 10,389 |
4/14 | 307th | 10,812 |
4/15 | 278th | 10,883 |
4/16 | 260th | 10,909 |
4/17 | 270th | 10,897 |
4/18 | 217th | 11,004 |
4/19 | 274th | 10,891 |
4/20 | 328th | 10,714 |
4/21 | 304th | 10,817 |
4/22 | 283rd | 10,877 |
4/23 | 286th | 10,864 |
4/24 | 294th | 10,845 |
4/25 | 224th | 10,996 |
4/26 | 282nd | 10,882 |
4/27 | 336th | 10,664 |
4/28 | 308th | 10,803 |
4/29 | 323rd | 10,735 |
4/30 | 324th | 10,731 |
5/1 | 221st | 11,002 |
5/2 | 181st | 11,113 |
5/3 | 263rd | 10,903 |
5/4 | 327th | 10,717 |
5/5 | 191st | 11,073 |
5/6 | 242nd | 10,949 |
5/7 | 245th | 10,945 |
5/8 | 235th | 10,955 |
5/9 | 203rd | 11,040 |
5/10 | 192nd | 11,071 |
5/11 | 319th | 10,744 |
5/12 | 210th | 11,016 |
5/13 | 330th | 10,697 |
5/14 | 193rd | 11,070 |
5/15 | 162nd | 11,157 |
5/16 | 127th | 11,283 |
5/17 | 177th | 11,122 |
5/18 | 267th | 10,899 |
5/19 | 223rd | 10,999 |
5/20 | 147th | 11,193 |
5/21 | 135th | 11,254 |
5/22 | 125th | 11,288 |
5/23 | 89th | 11,525 |
5/24 | 109th | 11,367 |
5/25 | 299th | 10,827 |
5/26 | 349th | 10,401 |
5/27 | 331st | 10,693 |
5/28 | 310th | 10,797 |
5/29 | 312th | 10,782 |
5/30 | 264th | 10,901 |
5/31 | 326th | 10,719 |
6/1 | 158th | 11,164 |
6/2 | 113th | 11,345 |
6/3 | 133rd | 11,256 |
6/4 | 143rd | 11,221 |
6/5 | 158th | 11,164 |
6/6 | 139th | 11,240 |
6/7 | 160th | 11,160 |
6/8 | 206th | 11,025 |
6/9 | 185th | 11,083 |
6/10 | 142nd | 11,222 |
6/11 | 160th | 11,160 |
6/12 | 146th | 11,196 |
6/13 | 202nd | 11,041 |
6/14 | 125th | 11,288 |
6/15 | 188th | 11,078 |
6/16 | 131st | 11,265 |
6/17 | 136th | 11,253 |
6/18 | 114th | 11,339 |
6/19 | 156th | 11,176 |
6/20 | 92nd | 11,502 |
6/21 | 122nd | 11,298 |
6/22 | 172nd | 11,130 |
6/23 | 138th | 11,244 |
6/24 | 117th | 11,328 |
6/25 | 105th | 11,406 |
6/26 | 108th | 11,374 |
6/27 | 71st | 11,590 |
6/28 | 82nd | 11,557 |
6/29 | 111th | 11,351 |
6/30 | 87th | 11,547 |
7/1 | 27th | 11,860 |
7/2 | 30th | 11,828 |
7/3 | 121st | 11,304 |
7/4 | 363rd | 8,796 |
7/5 | 348th | 10,404 |
7/6 | 96th | 11,487 |
7/7 | 6th | 12,108 |
7/8 | 18th | 11,944 |
7/9 | 40th | 11,769 |
7/10 | 45th | 11,738 |
7/11 | 35th | 11,794 |
7/12 | 81st | 11,565 |
7/13 | 153rd | 11,181 |
7/14 | 54th | 11,680 |
7/15 | 43rd | 11,754 |
7/16 | 41st | 11,768 |
7/17 | 49th | 11,718 |
7/18 | 38th | 11,772 |
7/19 | 88th | 11,545 |
7/20 | 103rd | 11,428 |
7/21 | 59th | 11,664 |
7/22 | 52nd | 11,686 |
7/23 | 50th | 11,699 |
7/24 | 68th | 11,607 |
7/25 | 41st | 11,768 |
7/26 | 74th | 11,581 |
7/27 | 104th | 11,410 |
7/28 | 65th | 11,614 |
7/29 | 70th | 11,593 |
7/30 | 69th | 11,599 |
7/31 | 90th | 11,516 |
8/1 | 37th | 11,775 |
8/2 | 75th | 11,580 |
8/3 | 116th | 11,332 |
8/4 | 79th | 11,569 |
8/5 | 66th | 11,610 |
8/6 | 73rd | 11,586 |
8/7 | 72nd | 11,589 |
8/8 | 16th | 11,951 |
8/9 | 47th | 11,721 |
8/10 | 93rd | 11,491 |
8/11 | 67th | 11,608 |
8/12 | 44th | 11,749 |
8/13 | 98th | 11,468 |
8/14 | 51st | 11,692 |
8/15 | 21st | 11,921 |
8/16 | 36th | 11,788 |
8/17 | 86th | 11,548 |
8/18 | 53rd | 11,681 |
8/19 | 62nd | 11,637 |
8/20 | 39th | 11,771 |
8/21 | 61st | 11,643 |
8/22 | 31st | 11,825 |
8/23 | 60th | 11,655 |
8/24 | 99th | 11,452 |
8/25 | 76th | 11,576 |
8/26 | 64th | 11,620 |
8/27 | 46th | 11,737 |
8/28 | 28th | 11,855 |
8/29 | 20th | 11,924 |
8/30 | 34th | 11,800 |
8/31 | 84th | 11,555 |
9/1 | 250th | 10,930 |
9/2 | 222nd | 11,000 |
9/3 | 178th | 11,119 |
9/4 | 145th | 11,216 |
9/5 | 102nd | 11,431 |
9/6 | 124th | 11,293 |
9/7 | 106th | 11,398 |
9/8 | 13th | 11,992 |
9/9 | 1st | 12,301 |
9/10 | 5th | 12,143 |
9/11 | 91st | 11,503 |
9/12 | 3rd | 12,224 |
9/13 | 33rd | 11,801 |
9/14 | 24th | 11,882 |
9/15 | 8th | 12,087 |
9/16 | 9th | 12,072 |
9/17 | 4th | 12,148 |
9/18 | 10th | 12,055 |
9/19 | 2nd | 12,229 |
9/20 | 7th | 12,107 |
9/21 | 32nd | 11,813 |
9/22 | 22nd | 11,920 |
9/23 | 14th | 11,974 |
9/24 | 17th | 11,945 |
9/25 | 25th | 11,866 |
9/26 | 12th | 11,993 |
9/27 | 26th | 11,861 |
9/28 | 85th | 11,554 |
9/29 | 77th | 11,572 |
9/30 | 95th | 11,489 |
10/1 | 48th | 11,720 |
10/2 | 77th | 11,572 |
10/3 | 57th | 11,674 |
10/4 | 94th | 11,490 |
10/5 | 129th | 11,272 |
10/6 | 115th | 11,335 |
10/7 | 118th | 11,324 |
10/8 | 119th | 11,309 |
10/9 | 169th | 11,137 |
10/10 | 83rd | 11,556 |
10/11 | 130th | 11,268 |
10/12 | 213th | 11,014 |
10/13 | 315th | 10,768 |
10/14 | 164th | 11,149 |
10/15 | 132nd | 11,261 |
10/16 | 180th | 11,115 |
10/17 | 123rd | 11,296 |
10/18 | 164th | 11,149 |
10/19 | 292nd | 10,850 |
10/20 | 194th | 11,065 |
10/21 | 197th | 11,057 |
10/22 | 163rd | 11,156 |
10/23 | 200th | 11,046 |
10/24 | 128th | 11,276 |
10/25 | 151st | 11,183 |
10/26 | 252nd | 10,928 |
10/27 | 205th | 11,032 |
10/28 | 183rd | 11,102 |
10/29 | 214th | 11,012 |
10/30 | 305th | 10,815 |
10/31 | 357th | 9,978 |
11/1 | 112th | 11,350 |
11/2 | 186th | 11,081 |
11/3 | 172nd | 11,130 |
11/4 | 174th | 11,129 |
11/5 | 148th | 11,191 |
11/6 | 186th | 11,081 |
11/7 | 120th | 11,308 |
11/8 | 155th | 11,180 |
11/9 | 253rd | 10,927 |
11/10 | 204th | 11,039 |
11/11 | 168th | 11,141 |
11/12 | 189th | 11,077 |
11/13 | 320th | 10,742 |
11/14 | 139th | 11,240 |
11/15 | 141st | 11,229 |
11/16 | 208th | 11,022 |
11/17 | 176th | 11,125 |
11/18 | 157th | 11,173 |
11/19 | 134th | 11,255 |
11/20 | 100th | 11,442 |
11/21 | 80th | 11,567 |
11/22 | 336th | 10,664 |
11/23 | 359th | 9,883 |
11/24 | 356th | 10,015 |
11/25 | 358th | 9,954 |
11/26 | 355th | 10,044 |
11/27 | 360th | 9,718 |
11/28 | 354th | 10,096 |
11/29 | 317th | 10,764 |
11/30 | 289th | 10,855 |
12/1 | 137th | 11,251 |
12/2 | 152nd | 11,182 |
12/3 | 167th | 11,142 |
12/4 | 226th | 10,981 |
12/5 | 171st | 11,132 |
12/6 | 234th | 10,958 |
12/7 | 321st | 10,741 |
12/8 | 272nd | 10,893 |
12/9 | 293rd | 10,849 |
12/10 | 240th | 10,951 |
12/11 | 278th | 10,883 |
12/12 | 101st | 11,440 |
12/13 | 289th | 10,855 |
12/14 | 239th | 10,952 |
12/15 | 148th | 11,191 |
12/16 | 110th | 11,352 |
12/17 | 97th | 11,481 |
12/18 | 56th | 11,675 |
12/19 | 19th | 11,935 |
12/20 | 11th | 12,009 |
12/21 | 54th | 11,680 |
12/22 | 107th | 11,388 |
12/23 | 352nd | 10,338 |
12/24 | 364th | 8,069 |
12/25 | 366th | 6,574 |
12/26 | 361st | 9,543 |
12/27 | 58th | 11,665 |
12/28 | 28th | 11,855 |
12/29 | 15th | 11,956 |
12/30 | 23rd | 11,889 |
12/31 | 350th | 10,394 |
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The Daily Viz
A (semi-retired) digital sketchpad for data stories, by Matt Stiles.
How Common is Your Birthday? This Visualization Might Surprise You
By Matt Stiles | September 17, 2016 October 4, 2021 Matt Stiles | Topics: Demographics
It’s baby season in America, with September the busiest month for births on average in the last two decades. So it seemed like the right time to remix this blog’s most-popular post: How Common is Your Birthday?
That old heatmap, which highlighted specific dates for popularity, has been viewed more than 500,000 times here and published across the web. But it was flawed, namely that it used ordinal data (birthday ranks by date) rather than continuous data (actual births counts by date). This graphic finally addresses that problem:
This new version of the heatmap, which is interactive on larger screens, uses births by day from 1994 to 2014, thanks for the fine folks at FiveThirtyEight, whose reporters posted the tables on Github for an unrelated project. It lists the average number of births by day, the rank (number one is most common) and an estimated — if slightly irresponsible — conception date.
You can have a look at the data for yourself in this table:
Chances are you came here looking for the legacy birthday graphic. If you must, find it here, along with a related post about the flawed methodology.
Meanwhile, check out your birthday, share your thoughts in the comments — and tell the Internet to do the same.
Credits: Thanks, Cynthia Brewer, for your wonderful color guide. After trying several of your sample palettes, I couldn’t decide. So my three-year-old daughter — who celebrates a birthday Sept. 22 — chose this one. It looked the most like a birthday cake, she said. Also, thanks to publicdomainpictures.net for the cake image.
Follow me on Twitter @stiles, and keep up with The Daily Viz posts on Facebook.