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Which Day of the Week Were Most US Presidents Born On?

By Georg Rehberger. Published 13-Feb-2023. Changed 19-Feb-2024RSS

And what is the birthday connection between Presidents Obama, Trump, and Biden?

Portrait of George Washington in oil.

Washington’s birthday fell on a Thursday, was switched to a Friday, became a federal holiday on a Sunday, and is celebrated on a Monday.

Portrait of George Washington by Gilbert Charles Stuart (1803)

George Washington’s birthday, often called “Presidents’ Day,” is a federal holiday in the USA, celebrated on the third Monday in February. Washington himself wasn’t born on a Monday, but celebrating the day on a Monday creates a three-day weekend for Americans.

What is closed on Presidents’ Day?

When Are Most Presidents Born?

Most US presidents have so far been born on a Monday or on a Thursday. Both days have eight US presidents under their belt.

Finding the day of the week that most US presidents were born is not as easy as it seems. Believe me, I tried. While birthdays and birth months are widely published, weekdays are rarely listed. Luckily, our Weekday Calculator makes short work of it.

Born on a Monday

  • Bill Clinton
  • Ronald Reagan
  • Gerald Ford
  • Franklin D. Roosevelt
  • Herbert Hoover
  • Chester A. Arthur
  • James K. Polk
  • John Tyler

Born on a Thursday

  • George H.W. Bush
  • Richard Nixon
  • Lyndon B. Johnson
  • Harry Truman
  • Calvin Coolidge
  • Warren Harding
  • Andrew Johnson
  • Martin Van Buren

Friday Is Catching Up

So far, Monday and Thursday have been the leading presidential birthdays. But Friday is catching up—the last three US presidents were born on a Friday: Joe Biden (November 20, 1942), Donald Trump (June 14, 1946), and Barack Obama (August 4, 1961).

WeekdayNumber of
US presidents
Sunday5
Monday8
Tuesday 7
Wednesday 3
Thursday 8
Friday 7
Saturday 7

Never before have three consecutive US presidents been born on the same weekday. If the next US president is also born on a Friday, that would definitely surprise many people. Or a handful of people. Ok, just me.

Find the weekday for any date

All US Presidents and Their Birthdays

Which president was born when? Which months, days, and weekdays are popular for a presidential birthday? Find out more in our big birthday table:

No.PresidentYearMonthDayWeekday
16Abraham Lincoln1809Feb12Sunday
7Andrew Jackson1767Mar15Sunday
2John Adams1735Oct30Sunday
25William McKinley1843Jan29Sunday
28Woodrow Wilson1856Dec28Sunday
42Bill Clinton1946Aug19Monday
40Ronald Reagan1911Feb6Monday
38Gerald Ford1913Jul14Monday
32Franklin Roosevelt1882Jan30Monday
31Herbert Hoover1874Aug10Monday
21Chester A. Arthur1829Oct5Monday
11James K. Polk1795Nov2Monday
10John Tyler1790Mar29Monday
23Benjamin Harrison1833Aug20Tuesday
34Dwight Eisenhower1890Oct14Tuesday
4James Madison1751Mar16Tuesday
35John F. Kennedy1917May29Tuesday
13Millard Fillmore1800Jan7Tuesday
9William Harrison1773Feb9Tuesday
27William Taft1857Sep15Tuesday
39Jimmy Carter1924Oct1Wednesday
26Theodore Roosevelt1858Oct27Wednesday
12Zachary Taylor1784Nov24Wednesday
29Warren Harding1865Nov2Thursday
17Andrew Johnson1808Dec29Thursday
30Calvin Coolidge1872Jul4Thursday
41George H.W. Bush1924June12Thursday
33Harry Truman1884May8Thursday
36Lyndon B. Johnson1908Aug27Thursday
8Martin Van Buren1782Dec5Thursday
37Richard Nixon1913Jan9Thursday
44Barack Obama1961Aug4Friday
45Donald Trump1946Jun14Friday
14Franklin Pierce1804Nov23Friday
1George Washington1732Feb22Friday*
5James Monroe1758Apr28Friday
46Joe Biden1942Nov20Friday
19Rutherford B. Hayes1822Oct4Friday
43George W. Bush1946Jul6Saturday
24Grover Cleveland1837Mar18Saturday
22Grover Cleveland1837Mar18Saturday
20James Garfield1831Nov19Saturday
18Ulysses S. Grant1822Apr27Saturday
15James Buchanan1791Apr23Saturday
6John Quincy Adams1767Jul11Saturday
3Thomas Jefferson1743Apr13Saturday

* Note: Washington’s birthday and all other birthdays in this table are according to the Gregorian calendar. Washington, J. Adams, Jefferson, and Madison were all born before the British colonies switched from the Julian to the Gregorian calendar in 1752.

The Big Birthday Switcheroo: Washington’s Birthday

Illustration on a poster from 1890 showing George Washington's birthday on February 22

The good old times: When Washington’s Birthday was celebrated on his actual his Gregorian calendar birth date.

Illustration by Edward Penfield (1866-1925)

George Washington was not only the first US president, he was also the first president whose birthday has been switched and switched again.

Washington was born on a Thursday: February 11, 1731. He was born in Virginia, back then a colony of the British Empire. The British followed the Julian calendar and switched to the modern Gregorian calendar when Washington was 21 years old, in 1752.

The switch shifted dates by 11 days since that was the difference between the Julian and the Gregorian calendars. Washington’s birthday became a Friday: February 22, 1732. Yes, they also added a year because this date lay between January and March… It’s complicated.

When the US Congress decided it wanted to celebrate the first president’s birthday in 1885, February 22 was a Sunday. In the following years, Washington’s Birthday was celebrated on different weekdays.

In 1971, the US Congress changed Washington’s Birthday to the third Monday in February to create a three-day weekend. Congress didn’t target Washington specifically; the act also changed the dates for Memorial Day and Columbus Day, as well as Veterans Day (although the latter was changed back in 1978).