Birthday facts for kids

Candles spell out the traditional English birthday greeting

A birthday is a special day when a person celebrates the day they were born. It's like a yearly party for your birth! Many cultures around the world celebrate birthdays. Often, people give gifts, have parties, or mark the day with special traditions.

Some religions also celebrate the birthdays of their important leaders with special holidays. For example, Christmas celebrates the birth of Jesus.

It's good to know the difference between a birthday and a birthdate. Your birthday happens every year (like January 15). Your birthdate is the exact day you were born (like January 15, 2001).

Becoming an Adult

In most countries, there's a certain birthday when you become an adult in the eyes of the law. This usually happens between the ages of 18 and 21.

A one-year-old girl playing with her birthday balloons in Bangladesh

Birthday Traditions Around the World

Many cultures have special birthdays that mark growing up:

A little girl in a traditional birthday hat from Canada or the U.S.

• In Canada and the United States, girls often have a "sweet sixteen" party when they turn 16. It's a big celebration!
• In some Spanish-speaking countries and Brazil, girls celebrate their 15th birthday with a "quinceañera" or "festa de quinze anos". This is also a very important party.
• In Nepal and India, some children have their heads shaved on their first birthday. People believe this cleanses them and helps them start fresh.
• In the Philippines, girls have a "debut" party when they turn 18. Boys have one when they turn 21.
• In some Asian countries that follow the Chinese zodiac, people celebrate their 60th birthday in a special way.
• In Korea, families celebrate a baby's 100th day ("Baek-il") and first birthday ("Doljanchi") with special ceremonies.
• In Japan, there's a "Coming of Age Day" for everyone who turns 20 that year.
• In countries like the United Kingdom, the Royal Family sends cards to people celebrating their 100th and 105th birthdays, and every year after that.
• In Ghana, children wake up to a special dish called "oto" on their birthday. It's made from sweet potato and eggs. Later, they have parties with stew, rice, and fried plantains called "kelewele".
• Jewish boys have a "bar mitzvah" on their 13th birthday. Jewish girls have a "bat mitzvah" on their 12th or 13th birthday. This is a special ceremony that marks them becoming responsible adults in their community.

Sometimes, the birthdays of important historical figures, like national heroes, are celebrated as official holidays.

A "golden birthday" happens when you turn the same age as the day of the month you were born. For example, if you were born on the 25th of the month, your golden birthday is when you turn 25!

If a person's real birthday isn't known, like for an orphan, their birthday might be set as January 1st. This is also how horses' ages are counted; they all turn one year older on January 1st each year.

How Birthdays Are Celebrated

A child with a Snow White Cake, around 1910–1940.

A girl's birthday party, around 2011.

Around the world, many people celebrate birthdays with a party. A special cake is usually made, decorated with the person's name and age. The cake often has lit candles, one for each year of their age. The birthday person makes a secret wish and tries to blow out all the candles in one breath. If they succeed, the wish is supposed to come true! Many believe the wish must be kept secret.

Guests usually give presents to the birthday person. Birthday parties can also have entertainment, like a clown or magician. People often sing the famous song "Happy Birthday to You". In some countries, a piñata is used instead of a cake.

Official Birthday Holidays

Colored lanterns at the Lotus Lantern Festival in Seoul, South Korea, celebrating the anniversary of the Buddha's birthday

Some important people, especially kings or queens, have an official birthday. This is a fixed day of the year when celebrations are held, even if it's not their actual birth date. Here are some examples:

• The traditional birthday of Jesus Christ is celebrated as Christmas on December 24 or 25. Some churches use a different calendar, so their Christmas might fall on January 7. These dates are traditions, not his actual birth date.
• The Queen's Official Birthday is celebrated in countries like Australia, Canada, and the United Kingdom.
• In Luxembourg, the Grand Duke's Official Birthday is usually on June 23, even though his real birthday is April 16.
• In the Netherlands, the King's birthday is celebrated on April 27.
• The Japanese Emperor's official birthday is December 23, which is a national holiday. His real birthday is November 12.
• In North Korea, the birthdays of past leaders Kim Il-Sung and Kim Jong-il are national holidays.
• Presidents' Day in the United States celebrates the birthday of George Washington. It's on the third Monday of February, but his actual birth date was in February.
• In India, October 2 is a holiday for Mahatma Gandhi's birthday.
• Martin Luther King Jr. Day in the United States celebrates the birthday of Martin Luther King Jr.. It's on the third Monday of January, close to his actual birthday on January 15.
• Mawlid is the official birthday of Muhammad, celebrated by Muslims on a specific day in their calendar.

How Common Are Birthdays?

A cake for a tenth birthday celebration

Birthdays are spread out fairly evenly throughout the year, but some months have more births than others. In the United States, September and October tend to have more birthdays. December 25th is one of the least common birthdays, not counting February 29th (leap day).

In New Zealand, the most common birthdays are between September 19th and October 1st. The least common ones are around Christmas and New Year's Day.

Leap Day Birthdays

A leap year happens every four years, and in these years, February has 29 days instead of 28. So, a leap year has 366 days.

Someone born on February 29 is sometimes called a "leapling". In years that are not leap years, they usually celebrate their birthday on February 28. Sometimes, they celebrate on March 1st.

Technically, a leapling has fewer birthday anniversaries than their actual age in years. This can be a fun fact! For example, in the old play The Pirates of Penzance, a character born on a leap day has to serve as a pirate until his 21st birthday, not his 21st year, which means he serves much longer!

Astrology

Your astrological sign is based on your birthday.

Birthday Symbols: Birthstones

A birthstone is a special gemstone that represents the month you were born. In 1912, jewelers agreed on a list of birthstones:

Images for kids

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  Birthday cakes are very common in birthday celebrations. Here, a black forest cake has candles and a topper for a 40th birthday.

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  A 90th birthday celebration at home.

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  A Korean child's first birthday party at home.

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  A birthday cake for an 18th birthday.

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  Some restaurants put a birthday candle on a dessert for a birthday customer.

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  A young child getting ready to blow out the candle on his first birthday in 1983.

See also

In Spanish: Cumpleaños para niños