Is October 17 a rare birthday? Ordinary
More common than 56% of all 366 dates.
October 17 in numbers
The odds, the star sign and the other dates that come with it.
Where October 17 ranks
From most common birthday to rarest, October 17 ranks in position #161, with 10,865 births a year. 205 other dates are rarer. 76 dates are within 1% of its count, anywhere from #128 to #204, so the exact position is a close thing.
October 17 through the years
Where it ranked in the United States, year by year.
common
October 17 in other countries
October 17 is the 161st most common birthday in the United States. It is among the 50 most common in 2 of the 26 other countries, and ranges from #37 in Malaysia and New Zealand to #325 in Hungary.
Malaysia
#37 of 366
1,474 births on an average October 17
DOSM, 2000–2022New Zealand
#37 of 366
163 births on an average October 17
Stats NZ, 1980–2023Guatemala
#52 of 366
993 births on an average October 17
INE Guatemala, 2018–2024Philippines
#61 of 366
4,948 births on an average October 17
PSA, 2006–2024Chile
#69 of 366
709 births on an average October 17
DEIS, 1990–2017Mexico
#72 of 366
5,354 births on an average October 17
INEGI, 2017–2023Slovenia
#107 of 366
55 births on an average October 17
SURS, 2000–2025Costa Rica
#122 of 366
172 births on an average October 17
INEC Costa Rica, 2014–2024Netherlands
#137 of 366
503 births on an average October 17
CBS, 1995–2025Japan
#140 of 366
2,811 births on an average October 17
e-Stat, 1996–2025England & Wales
#146 of 366
1,800 births on an average October 17
ONS, 1995–2025France
#147 of 366
2,167 births on an average October 17
INSEE, 1998–2024Portugal
#152 of 366
299 births on an average October 17
INE Portugal, 1980–2025Germany
#176 of 366
2,016 births on an average October 17
Destatis, 2014–2025Denmark
#200 of 366
163 births on an average October 17
Statistics Denmark, 2007–2025Ecuador
#203 of 366
760 births on an average October 17
INEC, 2013–2023Finland
#243 of 366
138 births on an average October 17
Statistics Finland, 2010–2025Norway
#255 of 366
150 births on an average October 17
SSB, 2011–2025Argentina
#267 of 366
1,425 births on an average October 17
DEIS, 2018–2023Peru
#293 of 366
1,146 births on an average October 17
INEI, 2019–2025Latvia
#306 of 366
50 births on an average October 17
CSB, 1996–2025Switzerland
#306 of 366
211 births on an average October 17
FSO, 1969–2025Brazil
#314 of 366
7,490 births on an average October 17
DATASUS, 1997–2024Ireland
#319 of 366
162 births on an average October 17
CSO, 1980–2023Belgium
#320 of 366
314 births on an average October 17
Statbel, 1992–2025Hungary
#325 of 366
310 births on an average October 17
KSH, 1970–2020
Famous people born on October 17
Ranked by how often people looked them up on Wikipedia last year.
EminemAmerican rapper · born 1972
Norm MacdonaldCanadian comedian · born 1959
George WendtAmerican actor · born 1948
Felicity JonesBritish actress · born 1983
Pope John Paul IHead of the Catholic Church in 1978 · born 1912
Matthew MacfadyenEnglish actor · born 1974
Charles OliveiraBrazilian mixed martial artist · born 1989
Michael McKeanAmerican actor · born 1947October against the other eleven
October 17 is the 14th rarest of the 31 days in October. All October birthdays.
October is the 5th most common month of the year
An average October day sees 10,872 births in the United States. September is the busiest month, January the quietest.
Quick answers
How many babies are born on October 17?
About 10,865 a year in the United States. It was at its most common in 2006, when 14,004 babies were born and it ranked #46 of 365; at its rarest in 1993, with 8,229 births at #352.
Is October 17 a common birthday?
In the United States, October 17 is the 161st most common of 366 dates, with about 10,865 births a year. That makes it an ordinary birthday: neither rare nor especially common.
What is the rarest October birthday?
In the United States, October 31: the 11th rarest of all 366 dates, with about 9,798 births a year. The most common October birthday is October 1, the 71st most common of the year.
How precise is the ranking?
In the middle of the calendar it is not exact. 76 other dates are within 1% of October 17's count, spread from #128 to #204, 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 October 17 rarer in other countries?
In some. It is rarer in 13 of the 26 other countries we hold daily records for. It is at its rarest in Hungary, at #325 of 366, and at its most common in Malaysia and New Zealand, at #37.
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