What are the most common birthdays in the Philippines?

August 3, 2022 - 5:41 PM
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Screenshots of Karen Davila and Lyca Garainod from a YouTube video (YouTube/Karen Davila) and data visualization (Rogel Hernandez/Twitter). Artwork by James Patrick Cruz

The most common birthday in the country is September 8, based on the analysis of Rogel Hernandez of the data from the Philippine Statistics Authority from 2006 to 2020. On average, there are 5,775 births on the said date.

Top 10 most common birthday

  1. September 8
  2. September 18
  3. September 20
  4. September 15
  5. September 19
  6. September 16
  7. September 17
  8. September 21
  9. September 12
  10. September 14

During September, most of the births also happen.

This is consistent with the findings of journalist Matt Stiles in 2016 after analyzing the birth data in the US. He used the data from 1994 to 2014.

It suggests that many babies born in September were conceived during the holidays, considering the period of fertilization to birth, according to Stiles.

Meanwhile, March 13 is the least common birthday, with an average of 4,126 births.

Top 10 least common birthday 

  1. March 13
  2. March 31
  3. February 24
  4. March 17
  5. February 13
  6. March 9
  7. December 31
  8. February 27
  9. February 26
  10. February 25

Based on Hernandez’s analysis, the lowest number of births was recorded in March.

Noticeably, most of those included in the ranking for the least common birthday were recorded in the first quarter. 

Hernandez noted that December 31st is the only day in the fourth quarter. 

Among the dates, he also noted that the 13th of the month is the second least common birthday of Filipinos, following the 31st.

In the analysis, Hernandez noted that births recorded on February 29 were excluded since it is considered a leap day that only occurs in a leap year.

Hernandez, an information technology engineer, used Microsoft Power BI, an interactive data visualization software, to analyze the data he requested from the statistics authority. 

How Filipinos reacted

Many Filipinos agreed with the analysis, while others also shared their insights. 

“Parang nung HS ang dami kong batchmate na kabirthday si Mama Mary. So, accurate nga ‘to,” a Twitter user wrote. 

September 8 is the birthday of the Blessed Virgin Mary. 

“Teka, the most common birthday is Mama Mary’s birthday?!! So the most common conception day is (roughly) the immaculate conception day? is this the hand of god or what,” another online user tweeted. 

“So meaning maraming Pilipino ang ipinanganak na Virgo, Libra or Scorpio?” a Twitter user asked. 

“All of my crushes were born on September (2,6,9,21). Well, no wonder that explains it,” another one wrote.