May 5 is near the middle of the birthday ranking in historical U.S. records, rather than among the rarest dates. It ranks #194 overall and #12 within May, with #1 meaning most common.
The selected 1994 through 2014 records contain 233,270 May 5 births: 0.272% of all recorded births, or about 1 in 367. These figures count historical births with that month and day, not everyone alive today with a 5/5 birthday.
May 5, beside other birthdays
Average recorded births each time a date occurred, 1994 through 2014.
- Commonness rank
- 194 / 366
- Share of recorded births
- 0.272 %
- Recorded births
- 233,270
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 May 5 and compare with a friend →How does May 5 compare with other May dates?
May 5 has more recorded births than May 4 and May 6 in the combined baseline. It is also above May 26, the month's least common date. The recognizable 5/5 date sits well away from either extreme of the full-year ranking.
| Date | Recorded births | Commonness rank | Birth share |
|---|---|---|---|
| May 1 | 231,969 | 220 | 0.271% |
| May 4 | 225,674 | 328 | 0.263% |
| May 5 | 233,270 | 194 | 0.272% |
| May 6 | 230,678 | 243 | 0.269% |
| May 26 | 218,924 | 349 | 0.255% |
| May 31 | 225,906 | 326 | 0.264% |
May 5 occurred 21 times in the selected years, averaging 11,108.1 recorded births per occurrence. The May guide compares the whole month; the rarest-birthday list supplies the full-year context.
The low May 26 count mixes different weekdays and years when that date was Memorial Day. The Memorial Day study follows the actual holiday instead of assuming that one fixed date represents it every year.
Is May 5 higher when we compare the same weekdays?
The combined comparison is slightly higher. Individual years go both ways. In SSA records from 2000 through 2014, May 5 averaged 11,071.5 births against 10,920.9 on eligible nearby dates of the same weekday. The pooled difference is +1.4%.
May 5 was above its nearby comparison in 9 of 15 years and below in 6. The table shows each year's result, including years close to their control average.
| Year | Weekday | Recorded births | Nearby mean | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | Friday | 12,539 | 11,888 | +5.5% |
| 2001 | Saturday | 8,795 | 8,729.5 | +0.8% |
| 2002 | Sunday | 7,447 | 7,439.3 | +0.1% |
| 2003 | Monday | 12,001 | 11,821 | +1.5% |
| 2004 | Wednesday | 12,852 | 12,777 | +0.6% |
| 2005 | Thursday | 14,357 | 13,041.3 | +10.1% |
| 2006 | Friday | 12,983 | 12,688.5 | +2.3% |
| 2007 | Saturday | 8,374 | 8,413.3 | -0.5% |
| 2008 | Monday | 12,480 | 12,482 | -0.0% |
| 2009 | Tuesday | 13,358 | 13,368.5 | -0.1% |
| 2010 | Wednesday | 12,801 | 12,535.5 | +2.1% |
| 2011 | Thursday | 12,055 | 12,220.3 | -1.4% |
| 2012 | Saturday | 7,634 | 7,753 | -1.5% |
| 2013 | Sunday | 6,609 | 6,920.8 | -4.5% |
| 2014 | Monday | 11,788 | 11,735.3 | +0.4% |
We used dates one and two weeks before and after each May 5, staying within the same year. All 60 candidate dates remained eligible after screening for holidays. The weekday/weekend study explains why matching the weekday helps with daily birth comparisons.
Does the 5/5 date change when births happen?
These counts cannot establish that. Using only one-week neighbors gives +1.3%; using only two-week neighbors gives +1.4%. Both comparisons stay slightly positive, but they do not show why births occurred on May 5.
The files contain no evidence about preferences for repeated numbers, celebration plans or delivery decisions. A modest pooled difference with mixed yearly results is not proof that the date attracts or discourages births.
Sources and calculations
The ranking uses U.S. daily birth files compiled by FiveThirtyEight: CDC/NCHS 1994 through 1999 and SSA 2000 through 2014, without overlapping years. Rank compares date totals; share divides May 5's count by all recorded births in that sample.
The annual analysis uses SSA alone. It averages each year's eligible same-weekday controls first, then divides summed May 5 counts by summed yearly control means. These historical U.S. comparisons are not current or worldwide birthday frequencies. The analysis download preserves counts and control dates; the methodology explains source coverage. Use the birthday checker to compare May 5 with your own date.