# Data on death and dying on your birthday **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [November 11, 2017, 11:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/data-on-death-and-dying-on-your-birthday/801311 "2017-11-11T11:36:34Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Silver\_lining](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/aca169/32.png) [@Silver\_lining](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Silver_lining)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2017, 11:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/data-on-death-and-dying-on-your-birthday/801311/1 "2017-11-11T11:36:34Z")
There are 365 days in a year, so does that mean 1 out of every 356 people die on their birthday? I’ve never seen or read anyone dying on their birthday. I think the meaning of the day gives people something to live for and suspect that 1 out of 365 people do not die on their birthday, more like 1 out of every 500. Does anyone have data on this topic? ---
**Author:** ![bob\_2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bob_2/32/3341_2.png) [@bob\_2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bob_2)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2017, 11:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/data-on-death-and-dying-on-your-birthday/801311/2 "2017-11-11T11:52:29Z")
A quick search seems to indicate that the opposite is true: > [@](#): > > The average death rate on people’s birthdays is 6.7 percent higher than what you’d otherwise normally expect on that day, according to a new analysis from University of Chicago economics researcher Pablo Pena. The rate is even higher for young people and on weekends, he finds. > > [You’re more likely to die on your birthday - The Washington Post](https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2014/12/29/youre-more-likely-to-die-on-your-birthday/?utm_term=.0dee97f25c20) ---
**Author:** ![campp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c5a1d2/32.png) [@campp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/campp)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2017, 12:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/data-on-death-and-dying-on-your-birthday/801311/3 "2017-11-11T12:23:44Z")
Personal antecdote: I do genealogy, and of the 800 names I am tracking, I’ve only confirmed one person as dying on their birthday. ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2017, 1:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/data-on-death-and-dying-on-your-birthday/801311/4 "2017-11-11T13:11:36Z")
> [@Silver\_lining](#): > > I’ve never seen or read anyone dying on their birthday. Shakespeare was (probably) born 23rd April 1564, and died 23rd April 1616. [Captain Oates](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lawrence_Oates), of Scott’s ill-fated Antartic expedition, 17 March 1880 – 17 March 1912. ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2017, 1:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/data-on-death-and-dying-on-your-birthday/801311/5 "2017-11-11T13:17:00Z")
> [@Silver\_lining](#): > > There are 365 days in a year, so does that mean 1 out of every 356 people die on their birthday?.. I’m wondering about those other 6 people. :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![DSYoungEsq](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c6cbf5/32.png) [@DSYoungEsq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSYoungEsq)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2017, 1:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/data-on-death-and-dying-on-your-birthday/801311/6 "2017-11-11T13:17:20Z")
Birthdays can be horribly depressing events for some people, especially those going through life traumas. I’d be surprised if the stats **didn’t** show an uptick of deaths on birthdays. ---
**Author:** ![DSYoungEsq](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c6cbf5/32.png) [@DSYoungEsq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSYoungEsq)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2017, 1:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/data-on-death-and-dying-on-your-birthday/801311/7 "2017-11-11T13:18:21Z")
> [@ThelmaLou](#): > > I’m wondering about those other 6 people. :dubious: Don’t you mean 9? 🆒 ---
**Author:** ![watchwolf49](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e9c0ed/32.png) [@watchwolf49](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/watchwolf49)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2017, 2:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/data-on-death-and-dying-on-your-birthday/801311/8 "2017-11-11T14:36:07Z")
Just 6 people, the other three all died on Feb 29th … ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2017, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/data-on-death-and-dying-on-your-birthday/801311/9 "2017-11-11T14:45:59Z")
I haven’t studied the numbers, but it certainly FEELS true that many people die right after reaching a milestone date. That MAY be a birthday, but it could also be Christmas, an anniversary, a grandchild’s wedding, whatever. It’s almost as if older or sick people either WILL themselves to live long enough to reach a special day, or mentally make a deal with God ( “Let me spend one last Christmas/birthday with my family and THEN I’ll be ready to go.” I know that will sound like “woo” to some, but I’m not suggesting anything supernatural is involved. But I don’t think it’s coincidence that John Adams and Thomas Jefferson both died on the date most important to them (July 4). ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2017, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/data-on-death-and-dying-on-your-birthday/801311/10 "2017-11-11T15:06:58Z")
See wiki for more on individuals’ birthdays triggering their death: [Birthday effect - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Birthday_effect) As a separate matter, birthdays are not evenly distributed around the year. Or more precisely, births aren’t distributed evenly. Some months and days have more than others. See [Leap Day -- from Eric Weisstein's World of Astronomy](http://scienceworld.wolfram.com/astronomy/LeapDay.html) for a smidgen of data in this direction. So even if deaths are evenly distributed across the days of the year (they’re not), the likelihood of someone dying on their birthday would vary a bit up or down from the simple 1/365 case. So overall we have three factors in operation here:[ul][_]The supply of births is not constant on each date of the year.[_]The supply of deaths is not constant on each date of the year.[\*]The likelihood of someone dying on or near their individual birthday date is not the same as their background likelihood for all other dates.[/ul]The population level conclusion is the sum of these three factors. ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2017, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/data-on-death-and-dying-on-your-birthday/801311/11 "2017-11-11T15:09:37Z")
> [@Silver\_lining](#): > > I’ve never seen or read anyone dying on their birthday. I think the meaning of the day gives people something to live for and suspect that 1 out of 365 people do not die on their birthday, more like 1 out of every 500. Unless, of course, mental illness or something of the sort is involved. One of my sisters killed herself on her birthday. I suspect the significance of the day was a factor. ---
**Author:** ![Silver\_lining](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/aca169/32.png) [@Silver\_lining](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Silver_lining)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2017, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/data-on-death-and-dying-on-your-birthday/801311/12 "2017-11-11T15:11:25Z")
> [@ThelmaLou](#): > > I’m wondering about those other 6 people. :dubious: 1. Early AM post with no coffee. ---
**Author:** ![scr4](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/59ef9b/32.png) [@scr4](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scr4)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2017, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/data-on-death-and-dying-on-your-birthday/801311/13 "2017-11-11T15:16:46Z")
> [@DSYoungEsq](#): > > Birthdays can be horribly depressing events for some people, especially those going through life traumas. I’d be surprised if the stats **didn’t** show an uptick of deaths on birthdays. Also, people are more likely to engage in dangerous activities on their birthdays - at least more dangerous than their typical day. Drinking, traveling, drugs, etc. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2017, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/data-on-death-and-dying-on-your-birthday/801311/14 "2017-11-11T15:20:28Z")
In fact, there’s a name for the increased, not decreased, likelihood for dying on your birthday. It’s called [the Birthday Effect](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Birthday_effect). Note that not all studies have found this effect, depending on what population was being studied. ---
**Author:** ![blondebear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blondebear/32/1022_2.png) [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2017, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/data-on-death-and-dying-on-your-birthday/801311/15 "2017-11-11T15:24:31Z")
Another factor might be the particular birthday you’re celebrating. I would imagine the chances of dying are less on your 10th birthday than on your 70th. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2017, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/data-on-death-and-dying-on-your-birthday/801311/16 "2017-11-11T15:53:17Z")
> [@blondebear](#): > > Another factor might be the particular birthday you’re celebrating. I would imagine the chances of dying are less on your 10th birthday than on your 70th. Depends on how you mean this. According to the U of C study referenced earlier, among 1-9 year olds and 10-19 year olds who died in that age group a more disproportionate amount died on their birthday than 70-years-olds who died in that age group. It peaks at the 20-29 age group. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2017, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/data-on-death-and-dying-on-your-birthday/801311/17 "2017-11-11T16:15:08Z")
A one in 365 chance is 0.0027. That’s tiny enough to be unnoticed in any small group. Increasing that by 6.7%, as in bob++'s link, brings it up only to 0.0029. Again, you wouldn’t notice that or that change in any study you did personally. ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2017, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/data-on-death-and-dying-on-your-birthday/801311/18 "2017-11-11T17:29:12Z")
One of my uncles died on his 17th birthday. Given that have I have far fewer than 365.25 close relatives, if I went by my personal observation I’d say that the odds of dying on ones birthday is fairly high. ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2017, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/data-on-death-and-dying-on-your-birthday/801311/19 "2017-11-11T18:09:03Z")
My sister died on her 50th birthday of cancer. No data other than it happened. ---
**Author:** ![Fretful\_Porpentine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fretful_porpentine/32/2873_2.png) [@Fretful\_Porpentine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fretful_Porpentine)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2017, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/data-on-death-and-dying-on-your-birthday/801311/20 "2017-11-11T18:12:32Z")
As long as we’re getting anecdotal, my grandfather died on what we thought at the time was his 92nd birthday, but upon the discovery of documents with his actual birthdate, turned out to be his 93rd. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/data-on-death-and-dying-on-your-birthday/801311.md?page=2)