--- title: "May 1 Birthday: Zodiac Sign, Personality and Numerology" description: "May 1 birthday meaning: Taurus decan 2, birthday number 1, Life Path by year, Chinese zodiac note and famous birthdays." canonical: https://unifiedreading.com/birthday/may-1 last-updated: 2026-10-23 reviewed: false author: Unified Reading editorial --- # May 1 Birthday: Zodiac Sign, Personality and Numerology In Western astrology, a May 1 birthday falls in Taurus, in the second decan, with Venus as the sign's ruler and Mercury as the decan's. In numerology the day gives birthday number 1. The Life Path also uses the birth year. Taurus is fixed and earth. ## Key facts | Fact | Value | | --- | --- | | Sun sign | Taurus in every year from 1930 to 2030 | | Decan | Taurus decan 1 (Venus) or Taurus decan 2 (Mercury) | | Sun's position at noon UTC | About 10° Taurus | | Taurus · element · modality · ruler | Earth · Fixed · Venus | | Birthday number | 1 | | Life Path by birth year | 1960: 4 · 1970: 5 · 1980: 6 · 1990: 7 · 2000: 8 · 2010: 9 · 2020: 1 | | Chinese zodiac | After Lunar New Year, so the animal is the birth year's own | | Born on this day | Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington (1769), Santiago Ramón y Cajal (1852), Anushka Sharma (1988) | ## May 1 zodiac sign and personality May Day birthdays arrive just as Taurus settles into its second decan, where Mercury, borrowed from Virgo, sharpens the sign's Venus-ruled love of comfort into practical judgement. Around ten degrees into the Bull, the Sun lends patience; the birthday number 1 adds a starter's nerve. The result is often described as someone who builds slowly but insists on building their own thing. On May 1 the Sun usually sits at about 10° Taurus, in the second decan, where Mercury is the sub-ruler alongside Venus. Mercury, the ruler of Virgo, acts as sub-ruler for Taurus between 10 and 19 degrees, roughly the first ten days of May. That pairing brings a practical intelligence to the sign's patience. These Taureans are frequently pictured as craftspeople at heart: they like to learn how something works, refine it and make it last. Speech tends to be measured and grounded in specifics. The Virgoan undertone can add a critical eye, which is helpful in a workshop or a spreadsheet and sometimes less welcome at the dinner table. Their gift is turning ideas into durable, useful things that other people can rely on for years. ## May 1 in numerology Born on the 1st, your birthday number is a plain 1, with no compound behind it. In Pythagorean numerology the day of birth is a secondary number, a talent or flavour that sits alongside the Life Path rather than replacing it. A first-of-the-month birthday is traditionally read as the purest form of initiative: a self-starting streak, a preference for making decisions personally and a comfort with going first. Because there is nothing to reduce, the energy is often described as direct and uncomplicated. The usual counsel is to pair that independence with listening, so leadership does not become lonely. The Life Path, the main number in a numerology chart, also uses the birth year, so it changes from one May 1 birthday to the next: it is 4 for 1960, 5 for 1970, 6 for 1980 and 7 for 1990, for example. Some birth years on this date reach the master number 11. ## Born on May 1: season, famous birthdays and Chinese zodiac May brings late spring in the northern hemisphere, a season of blossom and long evenings, and late autumn to the southern. Taurus holds the first three weeks, with Gemini arriving around May 20 or 21. In numerology May is month 5, the number of freedom, curiosity and change, which tends to give these birthdays a restless, experimental streak beneath the calm Taurean surface. May 1 is the 121st day of the year (122nd in a leap year). By May 21, 20 days later, the Sun has usually moved on into Gemini. For the Chinese zodiac, Lunar New Year has always passed by May 1, so the animal is simply the one for the birth year. Well-known people born on May 1 include Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington (1769), Santiago Ramón y Cajal (1852) and Anushka Sharma (1988). ## Frequently asked questions ### What zodiac sign is May 1? May 1 is Taurus in every year from 1930 to 2030, wherever you were born. It falls in the second decan of Taurus, which tradition links with Mercury. ### What is the Life Path number for someone born on May 1? It depends on the birth year. On May 1 the Life Path is 4 in 1960, 5 in 1970, 6 in 1980, 7 in 1990, 8 in 2000, 9 in 2010 and 1 in 2020. The birthday number, from the day alone, is 1 for everyone born on the 1st. ### What Chinese zodiac sign is someone born on May 1? Chinese astrology is straightforward for a May 1 birthday: the new year began weeks earlier, so the birth year's own animal applies. ### Which famous people were born on May 1? May 1 is also the birthday of Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington (1769), Santiago Ramón y Cajal (1852) and Anushka Sharma (1988). The list comes from Wikidata and favours people with the most Wikipedia articles. ## Related pages - [May birthdays](https://unifiedreading.com/birthday/may) - [Taurus](https://unifiedreading.com/zodiac/taurus) - [Taurus decan 2](https://unifiedreading.com/zodiac/taurus-decan-2) - [April 30](https://unifiedreading.com/birthday/april-30) - [May 2](https://unifiedreading.com/birthday/may-2) - [April 29](https://unifiedreading.com/birthday/april-29) - [May 3](https://unifiedreading.com/birthday/may-3) - [April 24](https://unifiedreading.com/birthday/april-24) - [May 8](https://unifiedreading.com/birthday/may-8) - [April 1](https://unifiedreading.com/birthday/april-1) - [June 1](https://unifiedreading.com/birthday/june-1) - [Birthday number 1](https://unifiedreading.com/numerology/birthday-1) ## About Unified Reading Unified Reading combines Pythagorean numerology, the Western Sun sign (Moon and rising with a birth time), the Chinese zodiac and life-stage context in one reading. The preview is free at https://unifiedreading.com/#details; the full reading is $4.99, paid once through Stripe, with no subscription. A fictional sample is at https://unifiedreading.com/sample. With a birth time and place it adds whole sign houses and the chart ruler; it does not calculate planetary aspects or transits, and it is a framework for reflection, not a prediction.