Is May 17 a rare birthday? Ordinary
More common than 59% of all 366 dates.
May 17 in numbers
The odds, the star sign and the other dates that come with it.
Where May 17 ranks
From most common birthday to rarest, May 17 ranks in position #152, with 10,887 births a year. 214 other dates are rarer. 71 dates are within 1% of its count, anywhere from #122 to #193, so the exact position is a close thing.
May 17 through the years
Where it ranked in the United States, year by year.
common
May 17 in other countries
May 17 is the 152nd most common birthday in the United States. It is among the 50 most common in 2 of the 26 other countries, and ranges from #44 in Argentina to #307 in Norway.
Argentina
#44 of 366
1,693 births on an average May 17
DEIS, 2018–2023Ecuador
#48 of 366
797 births on an average May 17
INEC, 2013–2023Portugal
#72 of 366
305 births on an average May 17
INE Portugal, 1980–2025Brazil
#74 of 366
8,461 births on an average May 17
DATASUS, 1997–2024Hungary
#113 of 366
332 births on an average May 17
KSH, 1970–2020Guatemala
#118 of 366
965 births on an average May 17
INE Guatemala, 2018–2024Slovenia
#120 of 366
54 births on an average May 17
SURS, 2000–2025Switzerland
#126 of 366
225 births on an average May 17
FSO, 1969–2025Finland
#136 of 366
144 births on an average May 17
Statistics Finland, 2010–2025England & Wales
#139 of 366
1,802 births on an average May 17
ONS, 1995–2025Ireland
#140 of 366
169 births on an average May 17
CSO, 1980–2023Peru
#141 of 366
1,216 births on an average May 17
INEI, 2019–2025Germany
#142 of 366
2,052 births on an average May 17
Destatis, 2014–2025Denmark
#148 of 366
167 births on an average May 17
Statistics Denmark, 2007–2025Japan
#168 of 366
2,786 births on an average May 17
e-Stat, 1996–2025France
#171 of 366
2,152 births on an average May 17
INSEE, 1998–2024Latvia
#175 of 366
54 births on an average May 17
CSB, 1996–2025Malaysia
#177 of 366
1,398 births on an average May 17
DOSM, 2000–2022New Zealand
#219 of 366
156 births on an average May 17
Stats NZ, 1980–2023Philippines
#219 of 366
4,385 births on an average May 17
PSA, 2006–2024Mexico
#222 of 366
4,932 births on an average May 17
INEGI, 2017–2023Netherlands
#224 of 366
492 births on an average May 17
CBS, 1995–2025Belgium
#286 of 366
319 births on an average May 17
Statbel, 1992–2025Chile
#291 of 366
676 births on an average May 17
DEIS, 1990–2017Costa Rica
#296 of 366
161 births on an average May 17
INEC Costa Rica, 2014–2024Norway
#307 of 366
141 births on an average May 17
SSB, 2011–2025
Famous people born on May 17
Ranked by how often people looked them up on Wikipedia last year.
Bill PaxtonAmerican actor · born 1955
Dennis HopperAmerican actor and filmmaker · born 1936
Trent ReznorAmerican singer-songwriter musician · born 1965
Bob SagetAmerican comedian and actor · born 1956
EnyaIrish singer · born 1961
Nikki ReedAmerican actress · born 1988
Tony ParkerFrench basketball player · born 1982
Craig FergusonScottish and American comedian · born 1962May against the other eleven
May 17 is the 5th most common of the 31 days in May. All May birthdays.
May is the 6th most common month of the year
An average May day sees 10,702 births in the United States. September is the busiest month, January the quietest.
Quick answers
How many babies are born on May 17?
About 10,887 a year in the United States. It was at its most common in 1994, when 12,289 babies were born and it ranked #46 of 365; at its rarest in 1970, with 8,030 births at #365.
Is May 17 a common birthday?
In the United States, May 17 is the 152nd most common of 366 dates, with about 10,887 births a year. That makes it an ordinary birthday: neither rare nor especially common.
What is the rarest May birthday?
In the United States, May 27: the 20th rarest of all 366 dates, with about 10,322 births a year. The most common May birthday is May 24, the 105th most common of the year.
How precise is the ranking?
In the middle of the calendar it is not exact. 71 other dates are within 1% of May 17's count, spread from #122 to #193, so the position inside that group would shift with a different set of years. That band is the accurate answer; the rank is the simple one. At the ends — Christmas Day, New Year's Day — nothing is close.
Is May 17 rarer in other countries?
In some. It is rarer in 12 of the 26 other countries we hold daily records for. It is at its rarest in Norway, at #307 of 366, and at its most common in Argentina, at #44.
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