The Most Common and Least Common Birthdays and Zodiac Signs
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What Definitive Sources Say
The most common month to be born in, according to statistics compiled in 2006 by the U.S. Center for Disease Control and Prevention, is August, with 9 percent of births. September is in second place; about a third of the time it actually ranks first. July and October are a neck-and-neck third and fourth place. Studies of the most common individual birthdates came up with different conclusions, but the dates always cluster in late summer/early autumn: One study by the database site anybirthday.com found the most common birthday is October 5 (Libra), and a second study, published by The New York Times in Dec. 2006, studied U.S. births from 1973 to 1999 and gave the most common birthday as Sept. 16, followed by Sept. 9, Sept. 23, Sept. 17, Sept. 22, and Sept. 21. Those before and on Sept. 21 are Virgo birthdays; those after Sept. 21 and until October 20 or 21st or so are Libra birthdays.
No study has confirmed the most common zodiac signs. This is because births during "cusp" periods -- from the 19th to 22nd of any month, as the Sun leaves one zodiac sign and travels into the next -- are read by astrologers as being influenced by both signs. An effort to cast and study thousands of U.S. cusp birth charts and find the actual placement of the Sun in each would still not give a definitive answer, because birth times for elderly or foreign-born residents might be unknown or unrecorded, and information on birth times or birthplaces might be inaccurate. (If you were born in Wahoo, Nebraska, your impulse might be to lie about it; or a small-town New Jerseyan might for clarity's sake say he was born in New York.) But from what's available we can discern that the most common zodiac Sun signs are Virgo, governing those born around August 20 until September 21, and Libra, for those born in the last week of September and first three weeks of October.
If you have plenty of Leo, Cancer, and Scorpio friends, that is natural, because they were probably born in one of the four most popular birth months. Those born in the first three weeks of July are Cancers; late July and early August children are Leos. The first weeks of October are Libra, the last week Scorpio.
Working backward from this information we see that late-summer early-fall birthday people were conceived in late fall to mid-winter, with conceptions peaking around Christmas and New Year's Day.
The month with the fewest birthdays is February, and several sources say that Aquarius (late January to Feb. 21) is the least common zodiac sign. No sources agree on the second-least-common Zodiac sign. The least common birthday (besides Feb. 29), according to anybirthday.com, is May 22, technically Gemini, but astrologically on the Taurus-Gemini cusp. The New York Times study, originating at Harvard University, gives Dec. 25, Christmas, as the least common birthday, and Jan. 1 and Dec. 24 as the next least common, reflecting a trend during the study years, 1973-1999, to induce or or delay childbirth for reasons of convenience.
Sylvia Sky, experienced astrologer, monitors 70-plus online horoscope and psychic sites for quality and trustworthy information. Copyright 2011 by Sylvia Sky.
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Thank you for the compliment! Birth times are hard to get. If only people knew how astrologers need those! People aren't looking at the clock while a baby is being born. Mothers' memories aren't always reliable. There is daylight savings time which can differ from state to state and, for WWII-era births, War Time to contend with and correct for. And I am not convinced that astrological "rectification" of birth times gives accurate results.
Wow September 16th is the most common birthday. Thats my birthday
Hi Sylvia,
I've come back to this hub again! My son has attended a martial arts school for 13 years. I can't tell the percentage, but out of the main 25 higher ranks, at least 12 of them are Scorpios! He is included, having a Scorpio sun and moon. Thankfully he has Virgo rising, and a stellium in Sag, so he's downright sunny for a double Scorp! Take care, Jean
Hi Sylvia--Never have I paid attention to who has the most common birthdays all throughout the year, but when I read your article, then- oh! It must be the season why births happen around September...and to think that the least date of birthday celebrants is May 22nd is somewhat an irony on my end...I am a Gemini, and my fellow Geminians in my work-group were born on 5/22nd...and they know each other- though they were born 16 years apart, and from 2 continents. Very informative!
I've been looking through a few articles on 'least common' and 'most common' astrological signs...and not ONE mentions Pisces.
'Most ignored astrological sign'? Sniffle. End of February, for me.
I agree Pisces gets the short end of the stick, the most neglected and poorly understood of all Sun signs. Probably because it is the most complex.
Wow, my birthday is on May 22nd, and I know someone who was born on the same day in the same hospital! I had no idea it was one of the least common birthdays, I would have never guessed!
Who CARES what your sun or star sign is?
i Think feb 7 least common brithday date.......
I though saggitarius was the least common sign.
For birthday.. I'd have to agree around feb.
then again i bet all the signs and birthdays are evene'd out.
most common sign to me, is Capricorn.
WOW! MY BIRTHDAY IS JULY 9, 2002. BUT I CANT BEILEVE OCTOBER AND JULY ARE IN NECK-NECK
Jean Bakula Level 7 Commenter 11 months ago
Hi Sylvia,
I have gone nuts trying to get birth certificates for people in my parent's generation. It used to be easier before 9/11, at least in NJ. All I had to do was write to the Clerk of Whatever Township the hospital was in. It's so frustrating. I have good guesses about some of their ascendants, but verification would be nice. My Mom was born on July 4th, and so was I. She says her Dad always spoke of the fireworks going off. But when I got her Cert, she was born around dawn that morn, an odd time for fireworks. Interesting B-day info though, I thought people were probably mostly born earlier in the summer! Nice hub!