I’m putting this in General Questions because I’m looking for specific answer (if there is one), as opposed to polling what different ceremonies are performed.
Here in the USA I would venture to say it’s tradition all across America to sing Happy Birthday, and have a Birthday Cake with candles.
My question is this: Is this just an American thing? Those of you from other countries, what (if any) is the traditional way of celebrating a birthday where you’re from? Do you have a birthday song? What are the words?
I didn’t search the archives. If this has been discussed before many apologies.
UK:
Cake - check. With candles - check. Singing Happy Birthday - check. I suppose giving presents to the birthday boy/girl is too obvious to mention, but I mention it anyhow.
In my experience (in Latin America and Europe), the American tradition, with minor variations, has spread around the world. It’s not even traditional to celebrate birthdays in many countries, so it’s not surprising they would adopt the American tradition.
in china there is a translated version of the happy birthday song with the same tune but chinese words.
However, traditional chinese birthdays are celebrated with a feast but no cake and the presents given is usually money in a special pouch thing. Oh, and lots of red. Also, birthdays are traditionally celebrated on whole years from conception, not birth.
um, Shalmanese, sorta. Birthday cakes are huge in China, but usually with whipped cream instead of frosting and often with fruit.
Presents may be given. The red money pouch thing is for Chinese new year and not for birthdays (generally). You see the red package money (hong bao) at weddings as well, but not usually at birthdays.
Birthdays are now celebrated from the birthday and not conception. The conception thing comes from the year, eg you are a year old when born. Not sure if this is still done in Taiwan, but passports in the 1980’s reflected an age that was a year older than the birth date.
My Taiwanese coworker reports that their celebrations are the same as in the U.S. Same birthday tune, same meaning. Cake and candles. She says that very old people might still calculate their birthday according to conception but it isn’t done any more. However…she’s considered a year older on Chinese New Year rather than on her birthday. That is, she turned 29 in August 2001 and that’s when her birthday is celebrated but, as of Chinese New Year 2002 she’s considered 30 years old.
The traditional Mexican thing is to have your family wake you up to the song “Las Mañanitas”
"LAS MAÑANITAS
Estas son las mañanitas
que cantaba el rey David
A las muchachas bonitas
se las cantamos aqui
Despierta mi bien,
despierta mira que ya amanecio,
ya los pajaritos cantan,
y la luna se metio
Que linda esta la mañana
en que vengo a saludarte,
venimos todos con gusto
y placer a felicitarte.
El dia que tu naciste,
nacieron todas las flores
y en la pila del bautismo
cantaron los ruiseñores.
Ya viene amaneciendo,
ya la luz del día nació,
levantate de mañana,
mira que ya amaneció."
Later on the day, perhaps at night, a birthday party which will include a cake with candles that incorporates singing this song and the “Happy B’day” son in Spanish.
In Greece and I suspect other countries, they do a “name day” thing on which people come to your house to congratulate you on your patron saint’s day. You, of course, are hospitable, and offer food and drink. I hear some people nowadays arrange to be “out” on their name days to avoid having to host people into the wee hours if they have friends who overstay their welcome.
For instance, if there is a St. Cecil’s day (say Feb 30), then all the dopers that want to go over to Cecil’s house on Feb 30 to congratulate him, even if Cecil’s brithday is really 31 November. Cecil provides us with drink and food worthy of a man of his means. He has to guess how many dopers will drop in unannounced.
(BTW, I do know there is neither a Feb 30 or Nov 31. It’s an example.)
I don’t know how they decided which days to use for popular names that aren’t “Christian” type names such as Pericles, Socrates, Leonidas, Athena, etc. These people do, however, also have their “name days”. I gather that in older times, non-Christain names were not given or very rarely given.
Some people also do the “American” style birthday also.
The US traditional “Happy Birthday” song has been translated to French and is often sung at birthday parties in french-speaking countries. Then we split the camembert into small parts, one per person, and drink one glass of Bordeaux for each year in the age of the birthday person.
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