What is February birthday called? This Friday is Leap Year Day, also known as “Leap Day.” If you’re due (or past due) this week, you may end up having a Leap Day/Leap Year Day baby. There are only about 5 million people around the world who share this birthday, but that’s not the only reason it’s considered a special and unique birthday. The leap year and extra day (Leap Day) was instituted officially in 1582 with the Gregorian calendar (though it dates back to ancient Egyptian times) due to the amount of time it takes the earth to go around the sun, and as a measure to help keep the seasons occurring at the same time every year. Fun Facts About Being Born on Leap Day There is an approximate 1 in 1,461 chance of having a baby on Leap Day — if you’re that lucky, you might as well buy a lottery ticket too! If your baby is born on Leap Day, you can now join the Honor Society of Leap Year Day Babies, a fun, free and informative organization that both celebrates and educates others on the fun and some of the challenges of having a Leap Day birthday. Apart from “cute,” you can also refer to your special baby as a “leaper” or “leapling,” which is what Leap Day birthday folks refer to themselves. Anthony, Texas is known as the Leap Year Capitol of the World and throws a giant festival every Leap Year where people come from all around the world to celebrate their February 29 birthday. Plan now for your little one’s fourth birthday in 2024! Because not all technology systems have caught up, leapers may experience hassles and difficulties with recognition of their birth date. Sometimes, drop down menus do not have February 29 as a choice, and birthday loyalty programs may not have a way to recognize Leap Day birthdays in non-Leap Years. Also, some leaplings also are questioned about their birthday, thinking it is a mistake. During non-leap years, leaplings celebrate their birthday on February 28 or March 1, or on any day they choose! It’s common for leapers to recite their age in “leap year age” (ie, a 16 year-old would say she is only 4). If you’re looking for a unique name to commemorate your child’s rare birthday, consider one of the following suggestions: Julia/Julius – After Julius Caesar, who introduced the leap year Delta – The fourth letter of the Greek alphabet, representing the leap year’s occurrence every four years Romana/Roman – After the Roman Empire, from which the leap year originated Aurora – Roman goddess of the sunrise, representing the earth’s orbit around the sun A translation of the word “leap” – “Salto” in Spanish, “Lele” in Hawaiian, “Ruka” in Swahili About Giving Birth with Confidence Giving Birth with Confidence is a Lamaze International blog to share trusted resources, stories, and answers for expecting parents Leap years keep our calendar on track. One solar year — the amount of time it takes our planet to circle the sun — takes roughly 365 days, 5 hours, 48 minutes, and 46 seconds. Those extra five-or-so hours nobody ever mentions? Those are why we have leap years. We rely on a Gregorian calendar with only 365 days, so if we didn’t add an extra day to our shortest month about every four years, we would lose almost six hours every year. After a century, our calendar would be off by 24 days. What some don’t realize is when Julius Caesar introduced the first leap year around 46 B.C., he overcorrected. His rule — any year evenly divisible by four — created too many leap years. The math wasn’t tweaked adequately until more than 1,500 years later. Now, there’s a leap year every year that is divisible by four, except for years that are both divisible by 100 and not divisible by 400. The added rule about centuries (versus just every four years) was an additional fix to make up for Julius Caesar’s overcorrection. Here’s an example: 2020 was a leap year, and 2024 is a leap year, but once we arrive at 2100, we skip that leap year because 2100 is divisible by 100 and not by 400. The next leap year will be in 2104. Crazy, right? What You Haven’t Considered About February 29 Birthdays People born on a leap year day — February 29 — are often called “leaplings” or “leapers.” But instead of waiting every four years to celebrate their birthdays, most blow out their candles on February 28 or March 1. “I always celebrate on February 28 — my birthday isn’t in March!” my friend Sara says. “I remember being confused that my birthday only came once every four years, but in kindergarten, my parents came to my class birthday party and taught everyone about leap day. From then on, I felt pretty special. Luckily my parents always made it a big deal.” I asked her if she’d encountered any other oddities growing up a leap day baby. She responded with a laugh, saying, “Some people would ask me if I had to wait until I was ‘actually’ 16 to get my license.” The DMV allowed it even though she was only “4.” “You do have to wait until March 1 to drink legally and get your license, though,” Sara explains. While Sara admittedly loves her rare birthday, some leap year day babies are very serious about educating society about this day. Leapyearday.com is a fabulous online resource and society of leap year day enthusiasts. Some of its goals are surprisingly interesting: THE GOALS OF LEAPYEARDAY DOT COM To connect with fellow Leap Year Day babies To stop hospitals from changing the birth date on birth certificates To get worldwide technology Leapified. No more “invalid date”! To get the words Leap Year Day capitalized in dictionaries To get the words “Leap Day” in ink on every February 29 on calendars To have Leap Year Day celebrated by everyone as everyone’s extra day! Hospitals changing birth dates sounds just plain illegal, and the word “Leapified” is quite silly, but there is no denying having a personally important day ignored by many could get irksome if you’re the 1 in 1,461 born on February 29. A Centuries-Old Proposal Tradition Somewhere buried in Scottish and Irish tradition dating back to the 13th century, according to some, it was decided that on February 29, women could pop the question to their significant other. The tradition supposedly originated from a deal Saint Bridget struck with Saint Patrick. In many European cultures, it was accepted that if the proposal was refused, the man was expected to buy the woman a gown, fur coat, or pair of gloves. The legend spread around the world, and many leap year balls and dances popped up as a result. Some were held so women could ask men to dance. Some were specifically for the woman to ask for the man’s hand in marriage. Centuries later, some women still use this bit of folklore as an impetus proposal — on a February 29 or on any day in a leap year. This is especially true in Ireland, where leap day is also called Bachelor’s Day. In the United States during the late 1800s and early 1900s, postcards circulated depicting women asking — even begging — the man to marry her. Monmouth University published a database of these postcards, and it’s worth the browse.