--- title: "May Birthdays: Zodiac Signs, Decans and Numerology for Every Day" description: "May birthdays: zodiac signs and decans for every day of May, cusp dates, the month's numerology and its Chinese zodiac boundary." canonical: https://unifiedreading.com/birthday/may last-updated: 2026-10-23 reviewed: false author: Unified Reading editorial --- # May Birthdays: Zodiac Signs, Decans and Numerology for Every Day In Western astrology, May birthdays fall under Taurus and Gemini. In most years May birthdays from the 1st to the 20th are Taurus, and from the 21st they are Gemini. May 20, May 21 and May 22 are cusp dates. In numerology May is month 5. ## Key facts | Fact | Value | | --- | --- | | Sun signs (most years) | Taurus May 1–20 · Gemini May 21–31 | | Cusp dates | May 20, May 21, May 22 | | Month number | 5 | | Days | 31 | | Chinese zodiac | The birth year's own animal (Lunar New Year has passed) | ## Zodiac signs and decans in May May begins in the second decan of Taurus, where Mercury as sub-ruler gives the Bull a practical, crafting intelligence. Around May 11 the third decan begins, and Saturn adds seriousness, patience and a long-term view to the sign's love of security. Then, around May 20 or 21, the Sun enters Gemini. The change is from fixed earth to mutable air, from depth to breadth, and late-May birthdays often feel quicker, chattier and more curious than those of a few days earlier. The month's last days sit in Gemini's first decan, where Mercury rules twice and the mind is at its liveliest. May traces an arc from building something solid to talking about it with everyone, and people born near the switch may recognise both the craftsperson and the conversationalist in themselves. In most years May birthdays from the 1st to the 20th are Taurus, and from the 21st they are Gemini. The cusp dates, where the sign can differ by year or time zone, are May 20, 21 and 22; each has its own page explaining both possibilities. Decan by decan, the month opens in the second decan of Taurus, linked with Mercury, from the 11th the third decan of Taurus, linked with Saturn and from the 21st the first decan of Gemini, linked with Mercury. ## May birthdays in numerology and the Chinese zodiac As month 5, May carries the numerology of movement, adventure and adaptability. It is often read as adding a love of variety to a birth date, a counterpoint to the steady Taurean birthdays and a natural echo of the Gemini ones. Chinese astrology assigns May birthdays to the calendar year's animal, since Lunar New Year falls well before. Under the Four Pillars system the Snake month starts around May 5 or 6 with the Beginning of Summer, so most May birthdays carry the Snake in the month pillar. The Snake is traditionally linked with insight, discretion and strategic patience, which can sit thoughtfully alongside numerology's restless 5, as though one part of the chart wants to explore while another prefers to observe first and move later. Every page for a May date lists the Life Path for several birth years, because the year changes the total even when the day stays the same. ## Famous May birthdays Each May page lists the best-known people born on that date, drawn from Wikidata and ranked by how many Wikipedia language editions have an article about them. A sample across the month: Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington (May 1), Audrey Hepburn (May 4), Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (May 7), Fred Astaire (May 10), Pius IX (May 13), Megan Fox (May 16), Mustafa Kemal Atatürk (May 19), Richard Wagner (May 22), Ralph Waldo Emerson (May 25), Kylie Minogue (May 28) and Walt Whitman (May 31). Sharing a birthday with someone well known says nothing about a life's direction, but it is a pleasant way into the date's sign, decan and numbers, which each page then explains in turn. The lists favour people with a precisely recorded birth date in the modern Gregorian calendar, so some much-celebrated figures from earlier centuries are missing. ## Every May birthday - [May 1](https://unifiedreading.com/birthday/may-1) - [May 2](https://unifiedreading.com/birthday/may-2) - [May 3](https://unifiedreading.com/birthday/may-3) - [May 4](https://unifiedreading.com/birthday/may-4) - [May 5](https://unifiedreading.com/birthday/may-5) - [May 6](https://unifiedreading.com/birthday/may-6) - [May 7](https://unifiedreading.com/birthday/may-7) - [May 8](https://unifiedreading.com/birthday/may-8) - [May 9](https://unifiedreading.com/birthday/may-9) - [May 10](https://unifiedreading.com/birthday/may-10) - [May 11](https://unifiedreading.com/birthday/may-11) - [May 12](https://unifiedreading.com/birthday/may-12) - [May 13](https://unifiedreading.com/birthday/may-13) - [May 14](https://unifiedreading.com/birthday/may-14) - [May 15](https://unifiedreading.com/birthday/may-15) - [May 16](https://unifiedreading.com/birthday/may-16) - [May 17](https://unifiedreading.com/birthday/may-17) - [May 18](https://unifiedreading.com/birthday/may-18) - [May 19](https://unifiedreading.com/birthday/may-19) - [May 20](https://unifiedreading.com/birthday/may-20) - [May 21](https://unifiedreading.com/birthday/may-21) - [May 22](https://unifiedreading.com/birthday/may-22) - [May 23](https://unifiedreading.com/birthday/may-23) - [May 24](https://unifiedreading.com/birthday/may-24) - [May 25](https://unifiedreading.com/birthday/may-25) - [May 26](https://unifiedreading.com/birthday/may-26) - [May 27](https://unifiedreading.com/birthday/may-27) - [May 28](https://unifiedreading.com/birthday/may-28) - [May 29](https://unifiedreading.com/birthday/may-29) - [May 30](https://unifiedreading.com/birthday/may-30) - [May 31](https://unifiedreading.com/birthday/may-31) ## Frequently asked questions ### What zodiac signs are May birthdays? In most years May birthdays from the 1st to the 20th are Taurus, and from the 21st they are Gemini. The cusp dates, where the sign can differ by year or time zone, are May 20, 21 and 22; each has its own page explaining both possibilities. ### What is the numerology number of May? May is month 5. The month is one of three parts of the Life Path calculation, with the day and the year. ### Which Chinese zodiac animal is someone born in May? Lunar New Year has always passed by May, so a May birth takes the animal of the calendar birth year. ## Related pages - [Birthdays](https://unifiedreading.com/birthday) - [April birthdays](https://unifiedreading.com/birthday/april) - [June birthdays](https://unifiedreading.com/birthday/june) - [May 1](https://unifiedreading.com/birthday/may-1) - [May 15](https://unifiedreading.com/birthday/may-15) - [Life Path calculator](https://unifiedreading.com/life-path-calculator) - [Zodiac sign calculator](https://unifiedreading.com/zodiac-sign-calculator) - [Chinese zodiac calculator](https://unifiedreading.com/chinese-zodiac-calculator) - [Name numerology calculator](https://unifiedreading.com/name-numerology-calculator) - [Birthday compatibility calculator](https://unifiedreading.com/birthday-compatibility-calculator) - [Birth chart calculator](https://unifiedreading.com/birth-chart-calculator) - [Zodiac signs](https://unifiedreading.com/zodiac) ## 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.