I was at a birthday party last month, and someone asked which celebrities we share birthdays with. Everyone whipped out their phones. Lisa was properly chuffed to find out she shares with Beyoncé.
My cousin Jack got Leonardo DiCaprio and wouldn’t shut up about it all night. Me? Kevin Nealon and Owen Wilson. Not bad, honestly.
Why We’re All Obsessed
There’s something weirdly exciting about finding out you share a birthday with someone famous. It’s completely meaningless. Sharing a birthday with Brad Pitt doesn’t make you any more attractive or talented. But it’s still fun.
I reckon it comes down to wanting some connection to fame. Like if you share a birthday with a successful actor or musician, maybe you’ve got some of that stardust too. Completely mental when you think about it, but we all do it anyway.
Plus, it’s brilliant for small talk. Way better than the weather. “Oh, you were born on March 15th? That’s the Ides of March AND you share a birthday with will.i.am!” Conversation sorted.
How to Actually Find Out
Famous Birthdays is arguably the most well-known site. You punch in the date, and boom, there’s your ready-made list of all the celebs born that day. Some of them are centuries old, which is great if history is your thing.
Perhaps you share a birthday with some long-forgotten 18th-century philosopher or Renaissance painter. Others offer more material on contemporary celebrities (actors, musicians, YouTubers, and TikTok stars).
One of these sites I spent way too much time on the other night. Began searching for anyone I knew. Recently, I discovered my brother shares a birthday with Kim Wilde, which absolutely made his week. He has not stopped playing “Kids in America” nonstop ever since.
Today’s Birthday Lot (If You’re Reading This on 18 November)
If today’s your birthday, happy birthday. You’ve got a pretty solid crew. Owen Wilson‘s the big name, the “wow” guy from all those comedy films. You’ve also got Nasim Pedrad from Saturday Night Live and Linda Evans from Dynasty.
There’s Margaret Atwood, who wrote The Handmaid’s Tale. Ant McPartlin, one half of Ant and Dec, was born today, too. If you’re British, you know exactly who they are. If you’re not, they’re basically television royalty here.
Kim Wilde‘s another 18th November birthday. She had massive hits in the 80s and now does gardening shows, which is a proper career pivot.
The Weird Ones You Never Expect
At times, it so happens that you Google your birthday, and you often find the most random group of people. My friend Emma has the same birthday as Keanu Reeves and Amy Winehouse. That’s quite the mix. One’s known for being the nicest bloke in Hollywood; the other was an absolute legend who left us way too soon.
My dad’s got Hitler. Yeah, seriously. That is an uncomfortable one to drop at parties. “Then who do you have a birthday with?” “Oh, you know, one of history’s worst monsters.” Conversation killer, that.
Because, well, there are only 365 days in a year (366 if you’re born during a leap year, and that has its own kind of inconvenience). With billions of people on the planet, you’re going to share your birthday with some proper odd combinations.
Can Celebrities Actually Hide Their Birthday?
Is it possible for celebrities to hide their birthday and ages? Well, yes. It is no secret; many celebrities in Hollywood have lied about their age over the years. Zsa Zsa Gabor did it, and so did Sondra Locke and Loretta Lynn. The entertainment industry is age-obsessed, so people shave off a couple of years from their age all the time.
These days, though? Way harder. Everything’s online. Birth records are public. Someone always finds out. If you were born when the internet was already a thing, good luck keeping your actual age a secret.
Some try to keep it on the down low by, well, not talking about it. They don’t Instagram their birthday photos, and they don’t talk about it in interviews. But fans are persistent. Someone always digs it up
The Astrology Angle
I’m not massively into astrology, but loads of people are. If you’re one of them, sharing a birthday with a famous person who shares your star sign is extra exciting, apparently.
All those 18 November birthdays? They’re Scorpios. Intense, passionate, a bit secretive. My friend who’s really into this stuff spent ages telling me how it makes total sense that Owen Wilson’s a Scorpio because of his “emotional depth in his comedy roles”. I just nodded along.
Even if you don’t believe in it, it’s another fun layer to the whole birthday thing. “Oh, we’re both Leos; no wonder we’re so dramatic!” That sort of chat.
When Your Birthday Twin Does Something Dodgy
What if you share a birthday with someone who turns out to be awful? And then imagine that you have been bragging about sharing a birthday with some celebrity for years, and the next thing you know, they get arrested for something awful. A bit awkward, that.
I knew someone who used to brag about sharing a birthday with a certain presenter who later got exposed in a massive scandal. She stopped mentioning it pretty sharpish.
On the flip side, if your birthday twin wins an Oscar or something brilliant, you get to feel weirdly proud. “That’s MY birthday!” Like you had anything to do with it.
The Younger Generation
Now, when you look up birthdays, there are a whole bunch of YouTubers and TikTok stars alongside traditional celebrities. My niece was ecstatic when she learnt there’s a YouTuber that did makeup tutorials and shares her birthday. Had no idea who that was, but she was made up about it.
The definition of celebrity has changed massively. Twenty years ago, you had to be in films or on telly or have a record deal. Now you can be famous for making 60-second videos of yourself dancing. Mental. But it counts, I suppose. If millions of people recognise you, you’re a celeb.
Why This Matters (Or Doesn’t)
Let’s face it, at the end of the day, having someone famous share your birthday is just a fun coincidence. It doesn’t mean anything. You are not cosmically linked to Owen Wilson just because you happened to have been born on 18 November.
But it doesn’t have to mean anything to be enjoyable. Random as they are, it’s nice occasionally to have such a random connection. Makes the world feel both smaller and more interesting.
Plus, it gives you something to talk about in those terrible icebreaker activities at work gatherings. “Fun fact about me: I was born on the same day as Margaret Atwood!” Boom. You’ve contributed. And now you can sit down and eat your sad sandwich in peace.
The Verdict
So, which famous actors do you share a birthday with? So if you haven’t hit Google yet, go ahead and do so now.
Got your list? Brilliant. Looking for ‘chuffed’ or ‘gutted’? Did you land A-listers or a cast of people you’ve never heard of? Are you going to drop this into every conversation for the next month now, like it’s no big deal?
The nicest part about this whole birthday celebrity thing is that it’s all in playful fun. It doesn’t hurt anyone; it makes people smile and gives us something to talk about that isn’t depressing news or work stress.
My advice? Own whoever you get. Even if you don’t know who they are. Even if they’re not mega famous. They’re still more famous than you or me, and that’s saying something.
And if you got Hitler or someone equally horrific? Maybe just keep that one to yourself at parties. Trust me on that.
