No, in these historical U.S. records. December 28 ranks #28 of 366 dates by total births from 1994 through 2014.
Rank #1 means most common. December 28 had 249,921 births across 21 occurrences, or 11,901 births per occurrence.
Its share of the 85,712,738-birth sample is 0.292%, or about 1 in 343 recorded births. It ranks fifth within December.
Christmas Day and December 26 have much lower totals. Their pattern does not describe every birthday after Christmas.
Does December 28 remain common when weekdays match?
A separate SSA 2000–2014 comparison finds more births on December 28 than on its earlier same-weekday controls in all 15 years.
December 28 averaged 12,192.5 recorded births per occurrence. The mean of its annual control means was 11,584.4 births. The combined percentage difference was +5.2%.
Each year uses December 14 and December 21. Both dates share December 28’s weekday. This comparison does not adjust the baseline rank.
How does December 30 compare?
December 30 is also common in the 1994–2014 baseline. It has 250,577 births and ranks #23 of 366 dates, fourth within December.
In SSA 2000–2014, December 30 exceeds its primary control mean in all 15 years. The combined difference is +9.8%.
Its controls are December 16 and December 23. These differ from December 28’s controls, so the percentages do not directly compare the two birthdays.
Table ranks use historical U.S. CDC/NCHS and SSA records, 1994–2014. Percentage differences use SSA 2000–2014 alone, with 15 target occurrences per date.
| Birthday | Commonness rank | Primary difference | Seven-day difference | Fourteen-day difference |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| December 28 | 28 | +5.2% | +1.8% | +8.9% |
| December 30 | 23 | +9.8% | +15.0% | +5.0% |
Why does the comparison window matter?
For December 28, the seven-day comparison gives +1.8%. The fourteen-day comparison gives +8.9%. Both retain all 15 years.
The seven-day comparison uses December 21 alone. December 28 exceeds that control in 12 years, not all 15. The fourteen-day comparison uses December 14.
For December 30, the seven-day comparison uses December 23 and gives +15.0%. The fourteen-day comparison uses December 16 and gives +5.0%.
December 23 has fewer births than its own primary controls in every SSA year. Using it alone makes December 30’s positive difference larger.
The planned windows include dates seven and fourteen days before and after each target. We keep controls inside the target calendar year.
For both birthdays, the two later control dates fall in January of the next year. The same-year rule excludes them.
Each primary comparison therefore has 30 controls across 15 years. These are annual control observations, not different month/day values.
We exclude actual and standard observed federal holidays, Christmas Eve, December 26, and the Friday after Thanksgiving. None of these exclusions removes the earlier December control dates.
The combined percentage divides summed target births by summed annual control means, subtracts one, then multiplies by 100. It is not an average of annual percentages.
Sources and limits
Baseline totals and ranks use FiveThirtyEight’s pinned U.S. birth files. We select CDC/NCHS 1994–1999 and SSA 2000–2014, without overlapping years. Annual comparisons use SSA alone.
The source series have different administrative coverage. These records do not describe worldwide births, everyone alive today, or current birth rates.
Earlier controls leave later dates unmeasured. Weekday matching does not remove every seasonal difference. Positive differences do not show births moved from Christmas.
Daily totals contain no delivery methods or scheduling decisions. Federal observance rules label calendar dates, not hospital schedules.
Use the December guide for the full month ranking. Compare the separate December 26 and New Year's Eve studies for other nearby dates.
The methodology explains ranks and shares. Use the birthday checker to compare another date.