Born on February 29

What it means to be born on February 29

A birthday on the 29th of February falls under Pisces. Pisces is a mutable water sign, ruled by Neptune in modern astrology and Jupiter in tradition, the last sign of the zodiac. It is associated with imagination, empathy and dreams. Two fish swimming in opposite directions form its emblem. Its season ends winter.

The one birthday that is not annual

29 February exists only in leap years. The Gregorian calendar adds it whenever the year divides by four, except for century years that do not divide by 400. That is why 1900 had no 29 February and 2000 did, and why 2100 will not. It is not a rounding quirk: the earth takes very slightly less than 365.25 days to go round the sun, and the century rule removes the small surplus that a plain four-year rule would build up.

The practical consequence is that a leap-day birthday arrives roughly 25 times in a lifetime rather than every year. People born on it, sometimes called leaplings, generally mark the day on 28 February or 1 March in between, and there is no rule that settles which. Different countries also differ on which of those two dates counts for age thresholds, so it is worth checking locally rather than assuming.

Note the gap after 2096: the next leap year is 2104, not 2100, because 2100 is a century year that does not divide by 400. It is the one place where the everyday four-year rule visibly breaks.

What weekday February 29 falls on

Because 29 February only occurs in leap years, its weekday advances by five each time rather than by one, which makes the pattern less obvious than for an ordinary birthday. The next time February 29 falls at a weekend is 2032, on a Sunday.

Your February 29 birthstone and flower

Because February 29 sits in February, your birthstone is Amethyst, a violet purple gem traditionally meaning clarity, calm and sober judgement. Your birth flower is the Violet, which stands for faithfulness, modesty and young love. Together they make a natural birthday pairing for a card, gift or tattoo.

Every tradition tied to February 29

Pisces strengths and matches

Pisces is often described as compassionate, imaginative and gentle. In the traditional element model, Pisces matches most easily with Cancer, Scorpio and Taurus. Those percentages come from a published formula you can check on the method page, not from a reading.

See the full birth profile

Want the shareable card for February 29? Open the birth profile tool, pick this date, and download a card to save or share. You can also read the full February overview, or browse every date we cover.

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