How rare is a July 4 birthday? July dates ranked

July 4 is the rarest July birthday and July 7 is the most common in historical U.S. birth records. Compare all 31 dates and see how July 5 ranks.

July 4 is the rarest July birthday in these U.S. birth records from 1994 through 2014. July 7 is the most common. The chart and table below compare all 31 dates in the month.

Compare July birthdays

July 4 had the fewest births and July 7 the most among July 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

July 4

Within July
#31 of 31
Across the whole year
#362 of 366
Recorded births
185,315
Share of all births
0.216%

Both ranks count from most common (#1) to rarest. Ties share a rank.

July 4 had 27.4% fewer births than July 7 (185,315 versus 255,094).

Open July 4 in the birthday checker
Birth counts for each July dateCalendar order, with a zero baseline. A triangle marks July 4. A circle marks July 7. Exact counts and ranks appear in the table below.0150,000300,000July 1: 249,847 births1July 2: 249,370 birthsJuly 3: 238,398 birthsJuly 4: 185,315 birthsJuly 5: 219,284 births5July 6: 241,952 birthsJuly 7: 255,094 birthsJuly 8: 251,573 birthsJuly 9: 248,013 birthsJuly 10: 247,535 births10July 11: 248,795 birthsJuly 12: 243,781 birthsJuly 13: 235,506 birthsJuly 14: 246,041 birthsJuly 15: 247,664 births15July 16: 247,971 birthsJuly 17: 247,176 birthsJuly 18: 248,220 birthsJuly 19: 243,356 birthsJuly 20: 240,779 births20July 21: 245,725 birthsJuly 22: 246,258 birthsJuly 23: 246,627 birthsJuly 24: 244,732 birthsJuly 25: 247,864 births25July 26: 243,962 birthsJuly 27: 240,397 birthsJuly 28: 244,548 birthsJuly 29: 244,166 birthsJuly 30: 244,491 births30July 31: 242,844 births31
Recorded births by day of July, 1994–2014. The axis starts at zero so small differences stay small. Triangle (red): July 4. Circle (dark ink): July 7. Scroll sideways on smaller screens.

All 31 July birthdays ranked

Month rank compares only July dates. Overall rank compares all 366 dates, including February 29. #1 is most common in both columns.

July dates by total recorded U.S. births, 1994–2014. Share uses all 85,712,738 recorded births.
DateMonth rankOverall rankBirthsShare of all births
July 1#3#29249,8470.291%
July 2#4#31249,3700.291%
July 3#28#121238,3980.278%
July 4#31#362185,3150.216%
July 5#30#347219,2840.256%
July 6#25#97241,9520.282%
July 7#1#7255,0940.298%
July 8#2#19251,5730.294%
July 9#7#40248,0130.289%
July 10#11#45247,5350.289%
July 11#5#34248,7950.290%
July 12#22#81243,7810.284%
July 13#29#157235,5060.275%
July 14#15#58246,0410.287%
July 15#10#43247,6640.289%
July 16#8#41247,9710.289%
July 17#12#48247,1760.288%
July 18#6#39248,2200.290%
July 19#23#86243,3560.284%
July 20#26#103240,7790.281%
July 21#16#59245,7250.287%
July 22#14#55246,2580.287%
July 23#13#50246,6270.288%
July 24#17#65244,7320.286%
July 25#9#42247,8640.289%
July 26#21#77243,9620.285%
July 27#27#104240,3970.280%
July 28#18#67244,5480.285%
July 29#20#75244,1660.285%
July 30#19#69244,4910.285%
July 31#24#90242,8440.283%

Each July date occurs 21 times in this period, so ranking by births per occurrence gives the same order within this month.

Is July 4 a rare birthday?

July 4 has 185,315 recorded births across the 21 years. It ranks #31 of 31 within July and #362 of 366 across the year, where #1 means most common. See how it compares with dates in other months in the full rarest-birthday ranking, or check your own birthday.

What about July 5?

July 5 ranks #30 of 31 within July and #347 nationally. It had 219,284 recorded births. The other 29 July dates all had higher totals.

July's busiest date, July 7, had 69,779 more births than July 4, a 37.7% difference relative to July 4. Take July 4 and 5 out of that comparison and the range is much smaller: July 7 had 8.3% more births than July 13, the lowest of the other 29 dates.

What is the most common July birthday?

July 7 leads with 255,094 births and ranks #7 among all 366 dates. 25 of July's 31 dates are in the overall top 100. July 4 is rare against a month with many high-ranking dates.

To compare July as a whole with other months, use the birth-month guide.

Do these counts explain the July 4 gap?

No. These birth records do not say why a delivery happened on July 4, July 5, or any other date. Weekday patterns also affect daily birth counts, and July 4 landed on different weekdays across the 21 years.

Our fixed-holiday study compares July 4 with nearby dates on the same weekday, using the SSA records from 2000 through 2014. That study asks a different question from this month ranking. Neither comparison establishes a cause.

How to read the July rankings

The July rank compares 31 dates; the overall rank compares 366. Both sort total recorded births from highest to lowest. Each July date occurred 21 times in this period, so dividing totals by occurrences leaves their order unchanged. Birth share uses recorded births across all months as its denominator.

Select July 4 and July 7 in the comparison above to see their count gap, or pick two other July dates.

Sources and limits

We calculated these rankings from daily U.S. birth records compiled by FiveThirtyEight. We use CDC/NCHS records for 1994 through 1999 and SSA records for 2000 through 2014, excluding the overlapping CDC years. The sources have different administrative coverage. These historical counts do not describe worldwide births, current births, or how many living people have a July birthday. The methodology explains the source selection and rankings.

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