Not in these historical U.S. records. November 17 sits near the middle of the 366-date ranking. It ranks #173 of 366 dates by total births from 1994 through 2014. Rank #1 means most common.
November 17 had 234,592 births across 21 occurrences, or 11,171 births per occurrence. That is 0.274% of the 85,712,738-birth sample, or about 1 in 365 recorded births.
Within November, November 17 ranks #13 of 30 dates.
Does November 17 differ from nearby same-weekday dates?
Not clearly. In SSA 2000–2014, the primary comparison gives 0.0%. The three comparisons with holiday exclusions all stay within 1% of the controls.
When weekdays match, November 17 looks much like the dates around it.
In the primary comparison, November 17 was above its controls in nine years and below them in six.
Baseline ranks use historical U.S. CDC/NCHS and SSA records, 1994–2014. The percentage differences use SSA 2000–2014 alone. Each table row compares November 17 with controls from the same year.
| Comparison | Years | Control observations | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| 7 and 14 days, holidays excluded (primary) | 15 | 54 | 0.0% |
| 7 days only | 13 | 24 | +0.1% |
| 14 days only | 15 | 30 | -0.5% |
| 7 and 14 days, no holiday exclusions | 15 | 60 | +2.8% |
How were the comparison dates chosen?
The primary controls are November 3, November 10, November 24, and December 1 in the same year. Each is 7 or 14 days from November 17, so it falls on the same weekday.
In some years, planned controls fall on Thanksgiving Day, the Friday after it, or observed Veterans Day. We remove holiday controls under the standard observed federal holiday rules. The Friday after Thanksgiving is not a federal holiday, but this study also excludes it. Each year keeps its other controls.
The 7-day comparison uses 13 years. In 2000 and 2006, every 7-day control was excluded or fell outside the year.
Without holiday exclusions, the result changes from 0.0% to +2.8%. Holiday controls usually have fewer births in these records, so including them makes November 17 look higher.
By five-year period, the primary differences are +0.3% for 2000–2004, -0.3% for 2005–2009, and +0.1% for 2010–2014.
To combine the years, we divide the summed target births by the summed annual control means. Then we subtract one and multiply by 100. The result is not an average of annual percentages.
Does the November 17 rank change over time?
Yes, more than most dates. We ranked 365 recurring dates by SSA births in each five-year period. November 17 placed #283 in 2000–2004, #70 in 2005–2009, and #271 in 2010–2014. The three ranks span 213 places.
The median span for all 365 recurring dates is 159 places. This span is well above that median.
Each period has only five occurrences of November 17. It fell on a weekend twice in 2000–2004, twice in 2010–2014, and once in 2005–2009. The periods with more weekend occurrences have less common ranks.
These ranks use raw birth counts. The ranking-stability study also compares annual shares and weekday-relative scores for every date.
Sources and limits
Baseline totals and ranks use FiveThirtyEight’s pinned U.S. birth files. We use CDC/NCHS for 1994–1999 and SSA for 2000–2014, so no year comes from both sources. 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.
The daily totals do not record delivery methods or scheduling decisions. Weekday matching does not remove every seasonal difference. Federal holiday rules identify calendar dates, not hospital schedules.
Use the November guide for the full month ranking. Compare the nearby November 13 and November 11 studies.
The methodology explains ranks and shares. Use the birthday checker to compare another date.