Leap Day Birthdays: When to Celebrate February 29

Why February 29 doesn't come every year

The Earth orbits the Sun in about 365 days and just under six extra hours. Over four years those spare hours add up to a full day — so every four years February gains a 29th day, and the year becomes a leap year with 366 days.

To keep the calendar from drifting, there's a refinement: years divisible by 100 are not leap years, unless they're also divisible by 400. That's why 2000 was a leap year but 1900 wasn't. The next leap years are 2028, 2032 and 2036.

When to celebrate a February 29 birthday

In common years February 29 simply doesn't exist, so people born on that day — often called "leaplings" — usually pick one of two days:

• February 28 — celebrate on the last day of February, without crossing into March.
• March 1 — celebrate exactly 365 days after the previous February 29.

Legally your date of birth stays February 29; the choice of celebration day is a matter of tradition, not law. Pick whichever suits you and the people around you.

How old are you if you were born on February 29?

A leapling's age is counted the same way as everyone else's: by full years, not by how many February 29ths have passed. Someone born on February 29, 2000 is an ordinary 25 or 26 in 2026 — not "about six".

To check your exact age to the day, use the age calculator; to see how many days you've lived in total, try the age in days calculator. Both handle leap years and February 29 correctly.

In short

• February 29 comes once every four years (with the "century year" exception).
• Celebrate on February 28 or March 1 — whichever you prefer.
• Age is counted in full years, like everyone else; your birth date stays February 29.