Is May 20 a rare birthday? Ordinary

More common than 54% of all 366 dates.

May 20 #170
Most commonSeptember 9RarestDecember 25
Cartoon birthday scene for May 20: a child behind a cake whose candles spell the date
At a glance

May 20 in numbers

The odds, the star sign and the other dates that come with it.

Born each year≈ 10,844in the United States — about 930,000 of them are alive today
In a full stadium137 peopleof 50,000 were born on May 20
On the day itselfEvery 8 secondsa baby is born on May 20 somewhere in the United States
Star signTaurusmore common than 25 of the 31 Taurus birthdays
Half-birthdayNovember 20six months later, to the day
Conceived aroundAugust 27A summer night, then.
Birth frequency by rank

Where May 20 ranks

From most common birthday to rarest, May 20 ranks in position #170, with 10,844 births a year. 196 other dates are rarer. 77 dates are within 1% of its count, anywhere from #137 to #214, so the exact position is a close thing.

May 20#170 · 10,844 a year11,9006,546#1#366
56 years of records

May 20 through the years

Where it ranked in the United States, year by year.

Fell on a weekdayOn a weekend
rarestmost
common
1969, Tuesday: rank #100 of 365, 10,388 births1970, Wednesday: rank #224 of 365, 10,044 births1971, Thursday: rank #244 of 365, 9,568 births1972, Saturday: rank #303 of 366, 8,032 births1973, Sunday: rank #357 of 365, 7,165 births1974, Monday: rank #175 of 365, 8,793 births1975, Tuesday: rank #30 of 365, 9,554 births1976, Thursday: rank #248 of 366, 8,414 births1977, Friday: rank #144 of 365, 9,454 births1978, Saturday: rank #313 of 365, 8,078 births1979, Sunday: rank #352 of 365, 8,081 births1980, Tuesday: rank #83 of 366, 10,571 births1981, Wednesday: rank #203 of 365, 10,086 births1982, Thursday: rank #169 of 365, 10,400 births1983, Friday: rank #125 of 365, 10,513 births1984, Sunday: rank #344 of 366, 8,282 births1985, Monday: rank #116 of 365, 10,955 births1986, Tuesday: rank #78 of 365, 11,221 births1987, Wednesday: rank #114 of 365, 11,226 births1988, Friday: rank #117 of 366, 11,452 births1989, Saturday: rank #292 of 365, 9,390 births1990, Sunday: rank #340 of 365, 8,997 births1991, Monday: rank #182 of 365, 11,843 births1992, Wednesday: rank #73 of 366, 12,235 births1993, Thursday: rank #114 of 365, 11,924 births1994, Friday: rank #161 of 365, 11,645 births1995, Saturday: rank #288 of 365, 8,721 births1996, Monday: rank #209 of 366, 11,073 births1997, Tuesday: rank #40 of 365, 12,346 births1998, Wednesday: rank #83 of 365, 12,241 births1999, Thursday: rank #125 of 365, 11,944 births2000, Saturday: rank #304 of 366, 8,476 births2001, Sunday: rank #339 of 365, 7,597 births2002, Monday: rank #215 of 365, 11,568 births2003, Tuesday: rank #77 of 365, 12,993 births2004, Thursday: rank #105 of 366, 12,802 births2005, Friday: rank #129 of 365, 12,834 births2006, Saturday: rank #291 of 365, 8,524 births2007, Sunday: rank #349 of 365, 7,503 births2008, Tuesday: rank #47 of 366, 13,698 births2009, Wednesday: rank #40 of 365, 13,470 births2010, Thursday: rank #139 of 365, 12,379 births2011, Friday: rank #179 of 365, 11,882 births2012, Sunday: rank #336 of 366, 7,155 births2013, Monday: rank #168 of 365, 11,862 births2014, Tuesday: rank #53 of 365, 12,781 births2015, Wednesday: rank #89 of 365, 12,352 births2016, Friday: rank #134 of 366, 12,024 births2017, Saturday: rank #284 of 365, 8,056 births2018, Sunday: rank #350 of 365, 6,840 births2019, Monday: rank #174 of 365, 11,209 births2020, Wednesday: rank #32 of 366, 11,665 births2021, Thursday: rank #108 of 365, 11,405 births2022, Friday: rank #182 of 365, 10,882 births2023, Saturday: rank #290 of 365, 7,641 births2024, Monday: rank #222 of 366, 10,411 births1970198019902000201020202024

On a weekend it slips to #321, from #131 on a working day

Inductions and planned caesareans are booked on working days, so 29.2% fewer babies arrive and the date falls down the ranking. Each bar is the average rank of the years it landed on that day.

#183
Mon
#64
Tue
#107
Wed
#157
Thu
#146
Fri
#296
Sat
#346
Sun
Most common year
1975#30 of 365Tuesday · 9,554 births
Rarest year
1973#357 of 365Sunday · 7,165 births
Weekend years
16 of 5629% of the record2023 was the most recent
Around the world

May 20 in other countries

May 20 is the 170th most common birthday in the United States. It is among the 50 most common in 3 of the 26 other countries, and ranges from #2 in Ecuador to #319 in New Zealand.

  1. Ecuador

    #2 of 366

    834 births on an average May 20

    INEC, 2013–⁠2023

  2. Brazil

    #13 of 366

    8,680 births on an average May 20

    DATASUS, 1997–⁠2024

  3. Portugal

    #39 of 366

    310 births on an average May 20

    INE Portugal, 1980–⁠2025

  4. Guatemala

    #73 of 366

    981 births on an average May 20

    INE Guatemala, 2018–⁠2024

  5. Finland

    #85 of 366

    147 births on an average May 20

    Statistics Finland, 2010–⁠2025

  6. Latvia

    #86 of 366

    56 births on an average May 20

    CSB, 1996–⁠2025

  7. Chile

    #91 of 366

    704 births on an average May 20

    DEIS, 1990–⁠2017

  8. Malaysia

    #91 of 366

    1,425 births on an average May 20

    DOSM, 2000–⁠2022

  9. Peru

    #94 of 366

    1,234 births on an average May 20

    INEI, 2019–⁠2025

  10. Ireland

    #104 of 366

    171 births on an average May 20

    CSO, 1980–⁠2023

  11. Argentina

    #110 of 366

    1,588 births on an average May 20

    DEIS, 2018–⁠2023

  12. Germany

    #117 of 366

    2,102 births on an average May 20

    Destatis, 2014–⁠2025

  13. Denmark

    #127 of 366

    169 births on an average May 20

    Statistics Denmark, 2007–⁠2025

  14. Norway

    #138 of 366

    160 births on an average May 20

    SSB, 2011–⁠2025

  15. England & Wales

    #152 of 366

    1,797 births on an average May 20

    ONS, 1995–⁠2025

  16. Switzerland

    #154 of 366

    224 births on an average May 20

    FSO, 1969–⁠2025

  17. Costa Rica

    #165 of 366

    168 births on an average May 20

    INEC Costa Rica, 2014–⁠2024

  18. Philippines

    #176 of 366

    4,437 births on an average May 20

    PSA, 2006–⁠2024

  19. Hungary

    #197 of 366

    326 births on an average May 20

    KSH, 1970–⁠2020

  20. Slovenia

    #207 of 366

    52 births on an average May 20

    SURS, 2000–⁠2025

  21. Japan

    #217 of 366

    2,760 births on an average May 20

    e-Stat, 1996–⁠2025

  22. Mexico

    #240 of 366

    4,897 births on an average May 20

    INEGI, 2017–⁠2023

  23. France

    #283 of 366

    2,096 births on an average May 20

    INSEE, 1998–⁠2024

  24. Netherlands

    #309 of 366

    483 births on an average May 20

    CBS, 1995–⁠2025

  25. Belgium

    #316 of 366

    314 births on an average May 20

    Statbel, 1992–⁠2025

  26. New Zealand

    #319 of 366

    153 births on an average May 20

    Stats NZ, 1980–⁠2023
Birthday twins

Famous people born on May 20

Ranked by how often people looked them up on Wikipedia last year.

CherCherAmerican singer and actress · born 1946Josh O'ConnorJosh O'ConnorEnglish actor · born 1990Timothy OlyphantTimothy OlyphantAmerican actor · born 1968James StewartJames StewartAmerican actor and military officer · born 1908Jack GleesonJack GleesonIrish actor · born 1992N. T. Rama Rao Jr.N. T. Rama Rao Jr.Indian actor · born 1983Matt CzuchryMatt CzuchryAmerican actor · born 1977Tony GoldwynTony GoldwynAmerican actor and director · born 1960
Zoom out

May against the other eleven

May 20 is the 9th 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.

10,394
Jan
10,637
Feb
10,658
Mar
10,557
Apr
10,702
May
10,990
Jun
11,238
Jul
11,405
Aug
11,448
Sep
10,872
Oct
10,616
Nov
10,633
Dec
May 19
Births a year10,691
Rank#233
May 20
Births a year10,844
Rank#170
May 21
Births a year10,838
Rank#172

May 20 is the 8th rarest of the 15 days around it

#341
13
#237
14
#150
15
#164
16
#152
17
#154
18
#233
19
#170
20
#172
21
#127
22
#114
23
#105
24
#259
25
#337
26
#347
27
The whole year

Every date on one grid

In the United States, September is the busiest month of the year to be born in and January the quietest.

Each square is one date

May 20#170 of 36610,844 births a year

JanJFebFMarMAprAMayMJunJJulJAugASepSOctONovNDecD151015202530
RarestMost common

Compare with a friend

See how May 20 stacks up against someone else's birthday.

YouMay 20
#170Rank
10,844Births a year
Friend
Questions

Quick answers

How many babies are born on May 20?

About 10,844 a year in the United States. It was at its most common in 1975, when 9,554 babies were born and it ranked #30 of 365; at its rarest in 1973, with 7,165 births at #357.

Is May 20 a common birthday?

In the United States, May 20 is the 170th most common of 366 dates, with about 10,844 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. 77 other dates are within 1% of May 20's count, spread from #137 to #214, 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 20 rarer in other countries?

In some. It is rarer in 9 of the 26 other countries we hold daily records for. It is at its rarest in New Zealand, at #319 of 366, and at its most common in Ecuador, at #2.

Our data

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.

Read the full methodology →

Updated October 2026