Are Birthday’s Randomly Distributed?

Was thinking about this today.  There is certainly a large enough sample size to make an accurate guess.  Instead of grinding out all the numbers from original sources myself, I took the easy way out.  I googled it on the internet!

Found this blog post and it’s pretty interesting.  Birthdays are not randomly distributed.  As a matter of fact, there is a slight bias to the latter half of the year.  But, this isn’t just in the US, it’s in all societies.

I kept looking, and found this PhD thesis on birthdays and random distributions.  It turns out, it’s sort of an interesting academic problem, because when people are born might tell us more about the demographics, or some other underlying inference about a society.  The hypothesis this thesis is trying to validate says it’s all about the weather.  Hotter and colder temperatures affect fertility.

The assert, “One hypothesis links the different and fluctuating patterns among races to the unbearable heat experienced in the southern region of theUnited States during the summer months.  During the early days of air conditioning, only wealthy families, usually white, could afford such a luxury; thus poorer black families were more receptive to the effects of heat on fertility.  While this hypothesis supports the effects of heat on fertility, it also demonstrates how socio-economic status affects seasonal birth patterns.”

So, can the date of your birthday determine anything about you?  Not really unless there is more data to go on.  Anyway, it’s sort of interesting to think about on a Mother’s Day.

Here are May 8 Birthdays.  Some true gems, the great economist, Friedrich von Hayek, President Harry Truman (who received a great birthday gift in 1945, VE Day), the great Don Rickles

Read more at Points and Figures