Maggie ([info]arwenn) wrote,
@ 2006-06-06 13:34:00
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Question of the Day
Are the birthdates of the world evenly distributed over the days of the Gregorian Calendar as we know it?

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From Hallmark
[info]arwenn
2006-06-06 08:37 pm UTC (link)
• More people are born in August than any other month (9.07 percent). About 21 million Americans have birthdays in August.

• In recent years, July ranks number two in birthdays (8.80 percent of births) and February is last (7.55 percent)

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Re: From Hallmark
[info]deweyintoronto
2006-06-06 08:52 pm UTC (link)
It makes sense that February has fewer births, because there are fewer days.

Some of the variances could be explained by seasonal *ahem* habits. For example, August is 9 months after New Year's Eve, meaning that a lot of drunken sex was goin' on (SURPRISE!) in Western Cultures.

As the significant dates vary in other cultures, I'm betting it'd be pretty close to evenly distributed.

Except February, because we're special.

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Re: From Hallmark
[info]arwenn
2006-06-06 08:58 pm UTC (link)
Obviously, February is at a disadvantage. I didn't think about New Years, or the general holiday season causing high births in July, August, and September. Huh. Going by math, I was conceived in late February. Not even V-day--just late February. Huh.

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Re: From Hallmark
[info]deweyintoronto
2006-06-06 09:00 pm UTC (link)
I was conceived on May 28, 1974. Which happens to be my mother's birthday. Ewwwwwwwwwwwwwwww!

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Re: From Hallmark
[info]jcipa
2006-06-06 10:07 pm UTC (link)
But August is only 7 months after January. Babies born in August are most likely conceived in November. Historically speaking, November is after the harvest would have been in, days are getting a lot shorter, it's colder, so what else are people going to do?

Originally it looked like I was conceived around Thanksgiving, but then I remembered that I was two weeks early. Two weeks after Thanksgiving is about my father's birthday.

My brother was probably conceived around the 4th of July. Talk about fireworks. :)

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Re: From Hallmark
[info]arwenn
2006-06-06 10:34 pm UTC (link)
TECHNICALLY, New Year's Eve is only one day, possibly two if you count the morning after, and nine months from that is September 1. Only one month after August, so between premies and the general holiday season in December, that makes sense.

Another question: Premies, or late births, would of course factor into the question. But would the occurence of THESE be evenly distributed? Is it more likely to birth a baby early in August? That seems ridiculous.

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Re: From Hallmark
[info]jcipa
2006-06-06 11:05 pm UTC (link)
I'd guess that the more random things like most first pregnancies ending in early/premature delivery, that women still do die in childbirth (thus not having any more children), and C-sections are fairly evenly distributed. Although it would be interesting to see a maternal age & birth position distribution to confirm that.

It is funny that so many more are born in early fall, given that I've heard how horrible it is to be heavily pregnant in the height of summer heat. Plus it would be interesting to see if this trend bears out for the southern hemisphere.

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Re: From Hallmark
[info]arwenn
2006-06-06 11:12 pm UTC (link)
We talked about that here in the office--a coworker postulated that distribution across the year would be less and less even according to latitude, as you moved closer and closer to the poles. Now THAT I can believe. In the equator, one day is just like another!

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More From Hallmark
[info]arwenn
2006-06-06 08:39 pm UTC (link)
Rank Month Percent
1. August 9.07
2. July 8.80
3. September 8.62
4. October 8.60
5. March 8.51
6. May 8.30
7. January 8.25
8. June 8.15
9. April 8.12
10. December 8.07
11. November 7.96
12. February 7.55

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Re: More From Hallmark
[info]arwenn
2006-06-06 08:42 pm UTC (link)
Note: This is just from the US. But the original question between my girlfriend and I was: Is there an equal number of virgos (she) and sagittariuses (me)?

Obviously not. Although the months are pretty evenly distributed, with not more than 1 and a half percent between smallest and largest, I'm low on the list, whereas she (September) is high. So by definition, there actually ARE more virgos than sags especially because both months that contribute to virgo and both months that contribute to sagittarius are close to each other, in their high and low spots, respectively.

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