Christmas Day, December 25, is the rarest December birthday in these U.S. records from 1994 through 2014. It had 138,628 births. December 20 had the most, with 253,354. The chart and table below compare all 31 dates.
For separate date studies, compare Christmas Eve (December 24), Christmas Day (December 25), and December 26.
Compare December birthdays
December 25 had the fewest births and December 20 the most among December dates in these U.S. records. Choose two dates to see how far apart they are.
CDC/NCHS + SSA via FiveThirtyEight · 1994–2014 · 85,712,738 births
December 25
- Within December
- #31 of 31
- Across the whole year
- #365 of 366
- Recorded births
- 138,628
- Share of all births
- 0.162%
Both ranks count from most common (#1) to rarest. Ties share a rank.
December 25 had 45.3% fewer recorded births than December 20 (138,628 versus 253,354).
Open December 25 in the birthday checkerAll 31 December birthdays ranked
Month rank compares only December dates. Overall rank compares all 366 dates, including February 29. #1 is most common in both columns.
| Date | Month rank | Overall rank | Births | Share of all births |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| December 1 | #13 | #137 | 237,160 | 0.277% |
| December 2 | #14 | #148 | 235,990 | 0.275% |
| December 3 | #16 | #166 | 235,077 | 0.274% |
| December 4 | #18 | #224 | 231,793 | 0.270% |
| December 5 | #17 | #167 | 234,986 | 0.274% |
| December 6 | #20 | #234 | 231,084 | 0.270% |
| December 7 | #26 | #320 | 226,439 | 0.264% |
| December 8 | #23 | #274 | 229,572 | 0.268% |
| December 9 | #25 | #290 | 228,743 | 0.267% |
| December 10 | #19 | #233 | 231,087 | 0.270% |
| December 11 | #22 | #264 | 229,817 | 0.268% |
| December 12 | #10 | #99 | 241,615 | 0.282% |
| December 13 | #24 | #286 | 228,959 | 0.267% |
| December 14 | #21 | #240 | 230,859 | 0.269% |
| December 15 | #15 | #150 | 235,882 | 0.275% |
| December 16 | #12 | #111 | 239,301 | 0.279% |
| December 17 | #9 | #93 | 242,325 | 0.283% |
| December 18 | #6 | #52 | 246,454 | 0.288% |
| December 19 | #3 | #17 | 251,948 | 0.294% |
| December 20 | #1 | #11 | 253,354 | 0.296% |
| December 21 | #7 | #54 | 246,261 | 0.287% |
| December 22 | #11 | #107 | 240,078 | 0.280% |
| December 23 | #28 | #351 | 218,051 | 0.254% |
| December 24 | #30 | #363 | 170,166 | 0.199% |
| December 25 | #31 | #365 | 138,628 | 0.162% |
| December 26 | #29 | #360 | 201,577 | 0.235% |
| December 27 | #8 | #56 | 246,214 | 0.287% |
| December 28 | #5 | #28 | 249,921 | 0.292% |
| December 29 | #2 | #16 | 252,082 | 0.294% |
| December 30 | #4 | #23 | 250,577 | 0.292% |
| December 31 | #27 | #348 | 219,101 | 0.256% |
Each December date occurs 21 times in this period, so ranking by births per occurrence gives the same order within this month.
How far apart are December's highest and lowest dates?
December 20 ranks #11 among all 366 birthday dates. December 25 ranks #365. Rank #1 means the most births. December 20 had 82.8% more births than December 25 across the period.
Both dates occurred 21 times, so each had the same number of chances to appear. Select two dates above to see their counts and ranks side by side. The rarest-birthday ranking covers the rest of the year.
What happens around Christmas?
December 24, 25 and 26 together had 31.1% fewer births than December 17, 18 and 19 together. Each later date is seven days after its comparison date. Each pair therefore has the same weekday within a year. This combined comparison does not measure the separate difference for each date.
The records do not tell us why fewer births occurred over those three days. The holiday birth study examines Christmas Day separately, using SSA records and several nearby dates that share its weekday.
Is December 31 a rare birthday?
December 31 had 219,101 recorded births, putting it at #348 of 366. Its total was 12.6% below December 30's. The two dates fall on different weekdays in any given year, so this comparison cannot isolate an effect of New Year's Eve.
Use the birthday checker to compare December 31 with a date outside December. For whole-month comparisons that account for the number of days in each month, see birth months.
How these rankings were calculated
We calculated these figures from U.S. daily birth records compiled by FiveThirtyEight: CDC/NCHS for 1994 through 1999 and SSA for 2000 through 2014. We excluded the overlapping CDC years. December contributes 7,155,101 births.
December rank compares 31 dates, while overall rank compares all 366. Birth share divides a date's count by all births in the dataset, including those outside December. Every December date occurs 21 times, so dividing each count by its occurrences would keep the within-month order unchanged.
These are historical U.S. counts, not a count of living people who share a birthday or a current-year forecast. The source systems differ in administrative coverage. The methodology explains the baseline and ranking rules.
A closer look at individual dates
Is December 1 a rare birthday?
December 1 ranks #137 of 366 dates in historical U.S. birth records, 1994–2014. It is slightly above nearby same-weekday dates, but the evidence is weak.
How rare is a Christmas Eve birthday?
December 24 is the fourth-rarest birthday by total births in U.S. records from 1994 through 2014. Compare Christmas Eve, Christmas Day and December 26.
How rare is a Christmas birthday?
Christmas Day is the least common birthday that occurs every year in historical U.S. records. Compare its odds, leap day and annual weekday-matched counts.
How rare is a December 26 birthday?
December 26 ranks 360th in historical U.S. births. Compare the day after Christmas with nearby dates and years when Christmas was observed on Monday.
Is December 28 a rare birthday?
December 28 ranks #28 of 366 dates in historical U.S. birth records, 1994–2014. Compare its counts with earlier same-weekday dates and December 30.
How rare is a December 31 birthday?
December 31 ranks 348 of 366 birthday dates in historical U.S. records. Compare New Year's Eve with Christmas, January 1 and nearby weekdays.