Happy birthday, leaplings! As you know, this February is special: 2024 is a Leap Year. And Leap Day is on Thursday, Feb. 29.
Leaplings do something unique: They can calculate their age in in Leap Day years. Since Leap Year occurs once every four years — 2020, 2024 and 2028 is the next one, for example — this "Leap Day math" applies to people born Feb. 29. (Scroll down for a list of celebrities and notable people who were born Feb. 29.)
Those born on that day don't always get to celebrate their actual birthday — since that date occurs only every four years. But not to worry, someone born on Leap Day still gets to celebrate a birthday (see below).
For example, John Dunbar, executive editor of The Daytona Beach News-Journal, gets it: On Feb. 29, 2024, “I am turning ‘15,’ so I am still not old enough to drive,” he joked. “People always ask me what day do I celebrate my birthday on. When I was a kid, it was (February) the 28th because I wanted my birthday present. When I grew up I switched to March 1 because it seemed more honest."
Dunbar has been counting the days and, er, years until Feb. 29: "It's always a special day to have an actual birthday,” he said. “I used to have big blowout parties, but I'm pretty mellow about it these days."
How old would you be if you were born on Leap Day? We did the math for you.
Happy birthday! How old would you be if you were born on Leap Day?
How old are you if you were born on Leap Day? If you were born on Leap Day 1924, you would be 100 years old, or 25 in Leap Day years.
The year must be evenly divisible by 4. If the year can be evenly divided by 100, it is not a leap year unless the year is also evenly divisible by 400, according to mathisfun.com. For example, 2000 and 2400 are leap years, but 1800, 1900, 2100, 2200, 2300 and 2500 are not.
We've done the math for you in our age guide − it shows your age in "human" years and Leap Day years. If you were born on Feb. 29 …
1904: You'd be 120 years old in human years or 30.
1908: You'd be 116 years old in human years or 29.
1912: You'd be 112 years old or 28.
1916: You'd be 108 years old or 27.
1920: You'd be 104 years old or 26.
1924: You'd be 100 years old (Congrats, you're a centenarian!) or 25.
1928: You'd be 96 years old or 24.
1932: You'd be 92 years old or 23.
1936: You'd be 88 years old or 22.
1940: You'd be 84 years old or 21 (the legal age to drink alcoholic beverages in the U.S).
1944: You'd be 80 years old or 20.
1948: You'd be 76 years old or 19.
1952: You'd be 72 years old or 18 (the legal age to vote in the U.S. or buy lottery tickets).
1956: You'd be 68 years old or 17.
1960: You'd be 64 years old or 16 (the legal age to drive in the U.S.).
1964: You'd be 60 years old or 15 (the legal age to get a learner's permit to drive in the U.S.).
1968: You'd be 56 years old or 14.
1972: You'd be 52 years old or 13.
1976: You'd be 48 years old or 12.
1980: You'd be 44 years old or 11.
1984: You'd be 40 years old or 10.
1988: You'd be 36 years old or 9.
1992: You'd be 32 years old or 8.
1996: You'd be 28 years old or 7.
2000: You'd be 24 years old or 6.
2004: You'd be 20 years old or 5.
2008: You'd be 16 years old (the legal age to drive in the U.S.) or 4.
2012: You'd be 12 years old or 3.
2016: You'd be 8 years old or 2.
2020: You'd be 4 years old or 1.
2024: Happy birthday! You're a newborn, and the Leap Day math does not apply to your age until the next Leap Year in 2028, where you'll be 4 years old and 1 in Leap Day years.
Celebrities born on Leap Day, February 29
Who's the most famous Leap Year baby? That's subjective, but here is a list of celebrities born on Feb. 29, according tofamousbirthdays.com.
- Rapper Ja Rule
- Motivational speaker Tony Robbins
- Mark Foster, lead singer of Foster the People ("Pumped Up Kicks," "Sit Next to Me")
- Actor Peter Scanavino ("Law and Order: Special Victims Unit")
- Actor Antonio Sabato Jr. ("Melrose Place," "General Hospital")
- Singer Dinah Shore
- Actor Dennis Farina ("Law and Order")
Famous people with leap year birthdays? Florida, California serial killers were born on Feb. 29
Aileen Wuornos, one of the few known female serial killers, was born Feb. 29, 1956.
Wuornos was convicted and sentenced to death for the murders of six men along Central Florida highways between 1989 and 1990. She was executed by lethal injection at Florida State Prison on Oct. 2, 2002.
The "Night Stalker" Richard Ramirez, was born in El Paso, Texas on Feb. 29, 1960.
Ramirez was convicted of killing 13 people around Los Angeles and San Francisco, California, in 1984 and 1985 and sentenced to death. He died June 7, 2013, while awaiting execution on California's death row.
Sangalang is a lead digital producer for USA TODAY Network-Florida. Follow her onTwitteror Instagram at@byjensangalang. Support local journalism.Consider subscribing to a Florida newspaper.
