- The ONS looked at the number of live births in England and Wales from 1995 to 2014.
- Reveals a peak in births at the end of September, 40 weeks after Christmas
Many people see it as a special day, but we have bad news for you: your birthday isn’t really that exceptional.
In the UK alone, thousands of Brits share the same birthday, although some are more unusual than others.
Data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) reveals a peak in births at the end of September, showing that more babies are conceived in the weeks around Christmas than at any other time of the year.
On the contrary, Christmas Day is the day with the fewest births, along with Boxing Day and New Year’s Day.
So how unique is your birthday? Use the interactive tool below to find out.
Many people see it as a special day, but we have bad news for you: your birthday really isn’t that exceptional.
To determine the most and least popular birthdays, the ONS analyzed the number of live births in England and Wales between 1995 and 2014.
And since the average pregnancy lasts 40 weeks, these dates can be used to deduce the days on which the most and the fewest couples conceived.
“Birth data from England and Wales has been used to look at trends in the most and least popular birth dates over the past two decades,” he explained.
“The interactive graph shows the average number of births on a given day and the ranking from first to 366th.”
Technically, February 29 had the fewest number of births in the 20-year period.
However, this was ruled out because, as a leap day, it only occurs every four years.
Aside from this, September 26, which falls exactly 39 weeks and two days after Christmas Day, turned out to be the most popular birthday.
And it seems the weeks around Christmas were also when couples were at their most frisky, with eight of the top 10 birthdays taking place around the end of September.
“Part of the reason for this increase in births could be because couples are planning to have children at the start of the school year,” the ONS said.
To determine the most and least popular birthdays, the ONS analyzed the number of live births in England and Wales between 1995 and 2014.
The Christmas period has some of the least popular birthdays. Boxing Day was considered the least common birthday, followed by Christmas Day, New Year’s Day, December 27 and Christmas Eve.
In contrast, the Christmas period has some of the least popular birthdays.
Boxing Day was considered the least common birthday, followed by Christmas Day, New Year’s Day, December 27 and Christmas Eve.
“This is likely due to the large number of public holidays during this period,” the ONS explained.
‘Hospitals generally only attend to natural births and perform emergency caesarean sections during holidays.
“Induced births and elective cesarean sections are likely to be scheduled on alternative dates.”
Elsewhere, April 1 was the least common sixth birthday, perhaps because parents decided not to have a baby on April Fool’s Day.
The news comes shortly after a study of millions of death records revealed that the chances of dying on your birthday are higher than average.
Excessive partying and accidents while traveling to celebrations are risk factors, researchers warned.
Suicides triggered by the “birthday blues” may also be to blame, University of Chicago academics said.
