12 Fun May Birthday Facts for Those Lucky Spring Babies
Research shows that those born in may are more likely to look on the bright side.
Congrats to those with May birthdays — you start off on a great path! Those born in May are associated with a host of good traits, including optimism and luck. And, with their birthday celebrations right in the season of renewal and hope, why wouldn't they be? The weather is warmer, flowers are blooming and people are thrilled to be outside after the cold winter months.
From the ability to find a silver lining to belief in years filled with good health, people with May birthdays have a great outlook on life. (Plus, they share their birth month with some fun celebrity role models.) And once they check out these fun facts about May birthdays, they'll have even more of a reason to smile.
Their zodiac sign is either Taurus or Gemini
Those born between May 1 and 20 are the Taureans. Their symbol is the bull, and they're said to be ruled by the planet Venus. According to those who follow the zodiac, Taureans are smart, ambitious and trustworthy.
For the babies born on or after May 21, Gemini is their sign. Their symbol is the twins, which is why Geminis are often associated with duality. Their ruling planet is Mercury, and they're said to be passionate and dynamic.
Their birth flowers is the lily of the valley
The lily of the valley — also called, fittingly, the May lily — was in Victorian times said to represent a "return to happiness" after a long winter. There are other traits associated with the flower, too, including humility, chastity, sweetness, purity and luck in love. And according to the Old Farmer's Almanac, the hawthorn is a secondary birth flower for May babies, and that one is a symbol of hope.
The birthstone is emerald
Those May babies look so good in green! The green color of the emerald is a fitting one for that time of year, since its color of springtime and rebirth, according to the American Gem Society, which also says that emeralds are associated with foresight, good fortune and youth.
They feel pretty lucky
That's not to say that they are luckier than those who are born in other months, but they think they are. According to a study in the UK, "People born during the summer months had a more positive outlook on life and a significantly higher belief in being lucky than those born during the winter months," the Guardian reports. "In Britain May is the optimum month to be born, while November produces the most pessimists." And, with such a nice birthstone and birth flower, who wouldn't feel lucky?
There are many famous May birthdays
If your birthday is in May, you're in good company: Queen Victoria, Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, Audrey Hepburn, Miles Davis, Cate Blanchett, Patti LaBelle, George Clooney and Janet Jackson were all born in May.
There are lots of fun things to celebrate in May
Everyone knows about Mother's Day, but people born in May might also celebrate Kentucky Derby Day (first Saturday in May), Dance Like a Chicken Day (May 14), National Hamburger Day (May 28) and Star Wars Day (May 4, as in "May the Fourth Be With You").
They have an eclectic range of professions
While researchers have found that some birth months correlate strongly to some occupations — people born in December are more likely to become dentists, for example — "April and May are said to have a fairly even spread of professions," the Telegraph notes.
They are more likely to see the bright side
According to Time, babies born in spring score high on the hyperthymia scale, meaning they have a general sense of optimism about them. This means those born in May tend to "see every down as a prelude to an up, every market crash as a run-up to a boom," Time notes. But there's a flip side, in that things can get rough if the silver lining doesn't appear in the clouds. That same Time article also notes — using a study of 58,000 people — that May babies have the highest rates of clinical depression.
But they're pretty healthy in general
Research from the University of Columbia shows that people born in May have the lowest disease risk — another reason to be optimistic.
May babies are among the tiniest
Some studies say that the babies with the lowest birth weight are born in May — chalk it up to the lower amounts of vitamin D in the womb during a winter pregnancy.
They like to stay up late
Studies show that babies born in spring and summer are night owls compared to their summer counterparts, so be prepared for some late evenings.
Opposites attract
People who are born in the first half of May are less likely to marry others who are born in the same period. Taurus is said to be most compatible with Pisces and Capricorn, and a Gemini is a good match for an Aquarius.
Marisa (she/her) has covered all things parenting, from the postpartum period through the empty nest, for Good Housekeeping since 2018; previously, she wrote about parents and families at Parents and Working Mother. She lives with her toy-collecting husband and daughter in Brooklyn, where she can be found helping out her team at bar trivia or posting about movies on Twitter and Bluesky.
Katarina Avendaño (she/her) is the senior SEO editor for Good Housekeeping, where she writes and edits lifestyle content and contributes to SEO strategy. Before joining GH in 2021, she was the digital editor at New York Family, where she was responsible for the website’s content and strategy. Katarina received her bachelor's degree in communications and Spanish from the University of Washington.
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