# Leap years and birthdays
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/leap-years-and-birthdays/130642
**Category:** Factual Questions
**Created:** [October 3, 2002, 5:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/leap-years-and-birthdays/130642 "2002-10-03T05:52:38Z")
**Posts on this page:** 7
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Neptune](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Neptune)
#### Post date: [October 3, 2002, 5:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/leap-years-and-birthdays/130642/1 "2002-10-03T05:52:38Z")
When does a person born on February 29 celebrate their birthday in a non-leap year?
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### Author:  [@bibliophage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bibliophage)
#### Post date: [October 3, 2002, 6:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/leap-years-and-birthdays/130642/2 "2002-10-03T06:50:17Z")
**Cecil Adams** on [When do leap-day babies celebrate their birthdays?](http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a960209.html)
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### Author:  [@SCSimmons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SCSimmons)
#### Post date: [October 3, 2002, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/leap-years-and-birthdays/130642/3 "2002-10-03T15:10:08Z")
Gee, thanks for the expedition into astronomical theory and sidereal time, Uncle Cecil. Now, on to what they _do_ …
My college roommate was born on February 29, 1968. He always celebrated his birthday on 2/28. Why wait an extra day?
But man, did we have a party in 1988 … When you only get a ‘real’ birthday one year in four, the birthdays are pretty special. (His girlfriend got him a teddy bear for a birthday present. She said that everyone should get a teddy bear on their fifth birthday. 😃 )
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### Author:  [@mnemosyne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mnemosyne)
#### Post date: [October 3, 2002, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/leap-years-and-birthdays/130642/4 "2002-10-03T15:45:13Z")
[flashback]
A friend of mine had his birthday on Feb 29th, and he walked into English calass back in 1996 and called out:
“YES! I’m FOUR! -I can drive!”
It was pretty funny 😃
[/flashback]
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### Author:  [@im2evil4u](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/im2evil4u)
#### Post date: [October 3, 2002, 11:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/leap-years-and-birthdays/130642/5 "2002-10-03T23:50:24Z")
My 7 1/2 year old husband celebrates (during non-leap years) on both the 28 and the 1st of March. How lucky is that? I have to buy him two gifts.
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### Author:  [@HeyHomie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HeyHomie)
#### Post date: [October 4, 2002, 12:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/leap-years-and-birthdays/130642/6 "2002-10-04T12:44:13Z")
It goes without saying, but anybody can celebrate their birthday any day they choose; there’s no law against it.
We’re trying to talk my nephew, born on Dec 26th, into celebrating his birthday in mid-June. That way he can have a party without all the Christmas baggage…
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### Author:  [@Pop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pop)
#### Post date: [October 4, 2002, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/leap-years-and-birthdays/130642/7 "2002-10-04T20:35:14Z")
The accurate way to phrase it in these cases is not, “I’m X years old” but to say, “This is my Xth Birthday!”.