July 1 is a relatively common birthday in these historical U.S. records. It ranks #29 overall and #3 in July, where #1 means most common.
The selected 1994 through 2014 sample contains 249,847 July 1 births: 0.291% of all recorded births, or about 1 in 343. These are U.S. birth counts. They cannot tell us how common a Canada Day birthday is in Canadian records.
July 1, beside other birthdays
Average recorded births each time a date occurred, 1994 through 2014.
- Commonness rank
- 29 / 366
- Share of recorded births
- 0.291 %
- Recorded births
- 249,847
Bars start at zero. Rank 1 means most common and uses total births across all 366 dates. The bars use births per actual occurrence; February 29 appeared five times, while the other dates appeared 21 times.
Check July 1 and compare with a friend →How does July 1 compare with July 4 and 7?
July 1 has more recorded births than June 30 and slightly more than July 2. Its total is well above July 4, but below July 7, the most common July date in the combined baseline.
| Date | Recorded births | Commonness rank | Birth share |
|---|---|---|---|
| June 30 | 243,178 | 88 | 0.284% |
| July 1 | 249,847 | 29 | 0.291% |
| July 2 | 249,370 | 31 | 0.291% |
| July 4 | 185,315 | 362 | 0.216% |
| July 7 | 255,094 | 7 | 0.298% |
| July 11 | 248,795 | 34 | 0.290% |
The date appeared 21 times in the selected period, averaging 11,897.5 births per occurrence. The July guide compares the full month, while the July 4 study examines that holiday date's lower count with its own annual comparisons.
These date totals mix different weekdays across years. Being close to July 4 does not mean July 1 has the same pattern, and the table alone cannot show whether any births shifted between dates.
Is July 1 still higher when weekdays match?
Usually, in the separate SSA 2000 through 2014 comparison. July 1 averaged 11,854.7 recorded births, versus 11,571.7 on nearby dates of the same weekday. The pooled difference is +2.4%.
July 1 was above its annual comparison in 14 of 15 years and below in 1. Some positive yearly differences are small; the table keeps their size visible.
| Year | Weekday | Recorded births | Nearby mean | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | Saturday | 9,376 | 9,373.8 | +0.0% |
| 2001 | Sunday | 8,145 | 7,914.3 | +2.9% |
| 2002 | Monday | 12,584 | 12,083.3 | +4.1% |
| 2003 | Tuesday | 13,930 | 13,659.5 | +2.0% |
| 2004 | Thursday | 13,887 | 13,522.3 | +2.7% |
| 2005 | Friday | 13,759 | 13,418.5 | +2.5% |
| 2006 | Saturday | 9,285 | 9,158.8 | +1.4% |
| 2007 | Sunday | 7,937 | 7,963 | -0.3% |
| 2008 | Tuesday | 14,350 | 14,182.8 | +1.2% |
| 2009 | Wednesday | 14,311 | 13,724.8 | +4.3% |
| 2010 | Thursday | 13,181 | 13,011.5 | +1.3% |
| 2011 | Friday | 13,392 | 12,856.8 | +4.2% |
| 2012 | Sunday | 7,550 | 7,415.5 | +1.8% |
| 2013 | Monday | 12,558 | 12,299.5 | +2.1% |
| 2014 | Tuesday | 13,575 | 12,991.5 | +4.5% |
We compared each July 1 with dates one and two weeks before and after it in the same year. All 60 candidate controls remained eligible after the holiday screen. Those dates share July 1's weekday, avoiding a direct weekend-versus-weekday comparison. See the weekday/weekend study for that broader pattern.
How sensitive is the higher count?
Using only one-week neighbors gives +1.9%; using only two-week neighbors gives +3.0%. The higher count appears under both windows.
This is still a descriptive comparison. The counts do not explain family preferences, scheduling or births around Independence Day. They also cannot establish how birthdays are recorded or assigned in a population register abroad. That would require the relevant country's records and definitions.
To compare the first day across all months, read birthdays by numbered day. July 1's result should not stand in for every month start.
Sources and calculations
The ranking uses daily U.S. birth records compiled by FiveThirtyEight: CDC/NCHS 1994 through 1999 followed by SSA 2000 through 2014, excluding overlap. Rank compares total births across dates; share divides the July 1 total by all recorded births in that sample. The rarest-birthday guide supplies the other end of the ranking.
The yearly comparison uses SSA alone. It averages controls within each year, then compares summed July 1 counts with summed annual control means. The analysis download includes each control date and alternate-window result. See the methodology for source limits, or use the birthday checker to compare dates. These are historical U.S. results, not current or worldwide frequencies.