November 29 is less common than most birthday dates in these historical U.S. records from 1994 through 2014. It ranks #313 of 366 dates, where #1 is most common.
Its 226,988 recorded births represent 0.265% of the 85,712,738-birth sample, or about 1 in 378 recorded births. November 29 occurred 21 times.
November 29 cannot be Thanksgiving under the current U.S. calendar rule. It can be the day after Thanksgiving. Those years have a different pattern from the other years in our separate SSA comparison.
November 29, beside other birthdays
Average recorded births each time a date occurred, 1994 through 2014.
- Commonness rank
- 313 / 366
- Share of recorded births
- 0.265 %
- Recorded births
- 226,988
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 November 29 and compare with a friend →How rare is November 29 compared with nearby dates?
November 29 ranks #22 of November’s 30 dates by total recorded births. It has more births than November 27 and 28, which can fall on Thanksgiving.
| Date | Recorded births | Commonness rank | Births per occurrence |
|---|---|---|---|
| November 27 | 205,164 | 359 | 9,769.7 |
| November 28 | 212,951 | 353 | 10,140.5 |
| November 29 | 226,988 | 313 | 10,809 |
| November 30 | 228,854 | 289 | 10,897.8 |
| December 1 | 237,160 | 137 | 11,293.3 |
November 29 averaged 10,809 births per occurrence in the full baseline. All five dates in this table occurred 21 times. The November guide contains the full month ranking.
The totals increase from November 28 through December 1 in this comparison. These fixed-date totals combine weekdays, holiday positions, years, and two source series. They do not identify a seasonal cause.
Can November 29 be Thanksgiving?
No. OPM defines Thanksgiving as the fourth Thursday in November. That puts the holiday between November 22 and November 28. A Thursday on November 29 is the fifth Thursday.
November 29 is the latest possible day after Thanksgiving. This occurs when Thanksgiving falls on November 28. In the SSA 2000–2014 window, these next-day occurrences were in 2002 and 2013.
What happens the day after Thanksgiving?
The two next-day occurrences averaged 9,209 recorded births. Nearby Fridays in those same years averaged 12,096.1 births. The combined difference was −23.9%.
The other 13 November 29 occurrences averaged 11,434.7 births. Their nearby same-weekday controls averaged 11,400.6 births, a difference of +0.3%.
| Calendar group | Years | Occurrences | Births per occurrence | Control mean | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Actual Thanksgiving Day | None | 0 | Undefined | Undefined | Undefined |
| Day after Thanksgiving | 2002, 2013 | 2 | 9,209 | 12,096.1 | -23.9% |
| Neither date | 2000, 2001, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2014 | 13 | 11,434.7 | 11,400.6 | +0.3% |
The Thanksgiving row has no occurrences. Its means and percentage difference are undefined. It does not represent an observed day with zero births.
The groups have different weekdays and years. Each difference therefore uses that group’s own same-year, same-weekday controls. Two next-day events do not establish a stable current rate or explain individual births.
For a study that follows every actual Thanksgiving across its possible dates, use the Thanksgiving birth study. November 27 provides a fixed-date comparison with actual holiday occurrences. Compare November 26 for another possible Thanksgiving date.
Does November 29 have fewer births every year?
No. November 29 had fewer births than its nearby weekday controls in 6 of the 15 SSA years. It had more births in the other 9 years. The combined difference across all 15 years was −3.1%.
| Year | Weekday | Calendar group | Recorded births | Control mean | Controls | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | Wednesday | Neither date | 13,114 | 12,659.2 | 4 | +3.6% |
| 2001 | Thursday | Neither date | 12,474 | 12,451.3 | 3 | +0.2% |
| 2002 | Friday | Day after Thanksgiving | 9,341 | 12,156.5 | 4 | -23.2% |
| 2003 | Saturday | Neither date | 8,043 | 8,370.5 | 4 | -3.9% |
| 2004 | Monday | Neither date | 12,315 | 12,404.8 | 4 | -0.7% |
| 2005 | Tuesday | Neither date | 13,743 | 13,574 | 4 | +1.2% |
| 2006 | Wednesday | Neither date | 13,997 | 13,674 | 4 | +2.4% |
| 2007 | Thursday | Neither date | 13,821 | 13,788 | 3 | +0.2% |
| 2008 | Saturday | Neither date | 7,803 | 8,421 | 4 | -7.3% |
| 2009 | Sunday | Neither date | 7,169 | 7,148 | 4 | +0.3% |
| 2010 | Monday | Neither date | 12,430 | 12,207 | 4 | +1.8% |
| 2011 | Tuesday | Neither date | 13,204 | 12,790 | 4 | +3.2% |
| 2012 | Thursday | Neither date | 12,503 | 12,263 | 3 | +2.0% |
| 2013 | Friday | Day after Thanksgiving | 9,077 | 12,035.8 | 4 | -24.6% |
| 2014 | Saturday | Neither date | 8,035 | 8,457 | 4 | -5.0% |
The two next-day occurrences had differences of −23.2% in 2002 and −24.6% in 2013. The remaining years include weekends and dates later in Thanksgiving week. “Neither date” means neither Thanksgiving nor its next day.
How were the comparison dates selected?
The primary comparison considers November 15, November 22, December 6, and December 13 in each target year. All four share November 29’s weekday. We exclude actual and standard observed federal holidays, Christmas Eve, December 26, and the day after Thanksgiving.
November 22 was Thanksgiving in 2001, 2007, and 2012, so those three controls were excluded. Each of those years retains three controls. The other 12 years retain four controls, giving 57 eligible controls across 15 target occurrences.
We average the remaining controls within each year. The combined difference divides summed target births by summed annual control means, then subtracts one. It does not compare target births with the sum of all 57 control counts.
The seven-day comparison gives −24.9% for the two next-day years and +0.3% for the other 13 years. The fourteen-day comparison gives −22.8% and +0.6%, respectively. Both sensitivity windows retain all 15 target years.
December controls keep the weekday match across the month boundary. Different windows give different comparisons. None removes every seasonal change or Thanksgiving-week pattern.
Sources and limits
Baseline ranks and shares use FiveThirtyEight’s pinned U.S. birth files: CDC/NCHS 1994–1999 plus SSA 2000–2014. Overlapping CDC years are excluded. Annual comparisons use SSA alone.
The source series have different administrative coverage. These records do not count worldwide births or everyone alive today. The methodology explains the data and ranking rules.
Daily counts cannot identify scheduled deliveries, hospital staffing, or births moved to another date. A lower historical total does not predict an individual pregnancy. Use the birthday checker to compare another date.