Is February 29 a rare birthday? Rare
Rarer than 96% of all 366 dates.
Leap Day is rare, but it is not the rarest: counted on the days it actually happens, Christmas, New Year's Day and the Fourth of July still see fewer births.
Leap Day in numbers
The odds, the star sign and the other dates that come with it.
Where February 29 ranks
From most common birthday to rarest, February 29 ranks in position #353, with 9,906 births on each February 29. 352 other dates are more common.
February 29 through the years
Where it ranked in the United States, year by year.
common
February 29 in other countries
February 29 is the 14th rarest birthday in the United States. It is among the 50 rarest in 23 of the 26 other countries, and ranges from #195 in Finland to #366 in the Philippines.
Finland
#195 of 366
140 births on an average February 29
Statistics Finland, 2010–2025Ireland
#196 of 366
167 births on an average February 29
CSO, 1980–2023Norway
#206 of 366
154 births on an average February 29
SSB, 2011–2025England & Wales
#317 of 366
1,745 births on an average February 29
ONS, 1995–2025Peru
#317 of 366
1,127 births on an average February 29
INEI, 2019–2025Brazil
#321 of 366
7,454 births on an average February 29
DATASUS, 1997–2024Hungary
#321 of 366
311 births on an average February 29
KSH, 1970–2020New Zealand
#337 of 366
152 births on an average February 29
Stats NZ, 1980–2023Malaysia
#346 of 366
1,316 births on an average February 29
DOSM, 2000–2022Chile
#350 of 366
615 births on an average February 29
DEIS, 1990–2017Japan
#352 of 366
2,338 births on an average February 29
e-Stat, 1996–2025Belgium
#354 of 366
291 births on an average February 29
Statbel, 1992–2025Slovenia
#357 of 366
46 births on an average February 29
SURS, 2000–2025Argentina
#358 of 366
1,120 births on an average February 29
DEIS, 2018–2023Switzerland
#359 of 366
200 births on an average February 29
FSO, 1969–2025France
#360 of 366
1,923 births on an average February 29
INSEE, 1998–2024Germany
#360 of 366
1,737 births on an average February 29
Destatis, 2014–2025Netherlands
#360 of 366
455 births on an average February 29
CBS, 1995–2025Denmark
#361 of 366
146 births on an average February 29
Statistics Denmark, 2007–2025Ecuador
#361 of 366
644 births on an average February 29
INEC, 2013–2023Latvia
#362 of 366
40 births on an average February 29
CSB, 1996–2025Costa Rica
#363 of 366
141 births on an average February 29
INEC Costa Rica, 2014–2024Guatemala
#364 of 366
700 births on an average February 29
INE Guatemala, 2018–2024Portugal
#364 of 366
232 births on an average February 29
INE Portugal, 1980–2025Mexico
#365 of 366
3,517 births on an average February 29
INEGI, 2017–2023Philippines
#366 of 366
3,340 births on an average February 29
PSA, 2006–2024
Famous people born on Leap Day
Ranked by how often people looked them up on Wikipedia last year.
Tyrese HaliburtonAmerican basketball player · born 2000
Abdukodir KhusanovUzbek footballer · born 2004
Tony RobbinsAmerican motivational speaker · born 1960
Ferran TorresSpanish footballer · born 2000
Ja RuleAmerican rapper · born 1976
Morarji DesaiPrime Minister of India from 1977 to 1979 · born 1896
Pedro SánchezPrime Minister of Spain since 2018 · born 1972
Mark FosterAmerican musician · born 1984February against the other eleven
February 29 is the rarest of the 29 days in February. All February birthdays.
February is the 5th rarest month of the year
An average February day sees 10,637 births in the United States. September is the busiest month, January the quietest.
Quick answers
Is Leap Day a rare birthday?
Yes. Counted on the leap days it actually happens, February 29 is one of the twenty rarest US birthdays and the rarest date in February. It is not the rarest: Christmas, New Year's Day, Christmas Eve and the Fourth of July all have fewer births per occurrence. RareBirthday ranks February 29 per leap day, not stretched across the other three years.
How many babies are born on February 29?
About 9,906 on each February 29 in the United States. It was at its most common in 1972, when 9,582 babies were born and it ranked #66 of 366; at its rarest in 2004, with 7,212 births at #360.
Is February 29 a common birthday?
In the United States, February 29 is the 14th rarest of 366 dates, with about 9,906 births on each February 29. That puts it on the rarer side of the calendar.
What is the rarest February birthday?
In the United States, February 29: the 14th rarest of all 366 dates, with about 9,906 births on each February 29. The most common February birthday is February 14, the 94th most common of the year.
How precise is the ranking?
For February 29 the rank is stable. Only 3 dates sit within 1% of its count, so the order does not depend on which years you count. In the crowded middle, dozens of dates can sit within a single percent of each other.
Is February 29 rarer in other countries?
In some. It is rarer in 15 of the 26 other countries we hold daily records for. It is at its rarest in the Philippines, at #366 of 366, and at its most common in Finland, at #195.
How this is counted
Every date is ranked by how many babies are born on it in the United States. Live births by day of birth from the CDC's National Center for Health Statistics, 1989–2024.
Updated October 2026