How to say “birthday” in 32 different languages
Every one of these is a word that turns up in ordinary speech, not a dictionary curiosity — the number beside it is where it ranks in that language.
- cumpleaños/kumpleˈaɲos/ Spanish
- 生日/ʂɤŋ⁵⁵ ɻ̩⁵¹/ Chinese
- 생일[sʰɛŋiɭ] Korean
- जन्मदिन/d͡ʒənm.d̪ɪn/ Hindi
- γενέθλια/jeˈneθʎa/ Greek
- জন্মদিন/d͡ʒɔnmod̪in/ Bengali
“birthday” in Spanish: cumpleaños · French: anniversaire · German: geburtstag · Italian: compleanno · Chinese: 生日 · Korean: 생일 · Hindi: जन्मदिन · Greek: γενέθλια
It is commonest in Telugu, where పుట్టినరోజు is the 315th most used word.
Birthday in other languages, A to Z
- Afrikaans verjaardag/fərˈjɑːrˌdaχ/ #852
- Albanian ditëlindje/ditəlindjɛ/ #2,484
- Bengali জন্মদিন/d͡ʒɔnmod̪in/ #673
- Bosnian rođendan/rôd͡ʑendaːn/ #783
- Bulgarian торта[ˈtɔrtɐ] birthday cake #1,969
- Chinese 生日/ʂɤŋ⁵⁵ ɻ̩⁵¹/ #409
- Croatian rođendan/rôd͡ʑendaːn/ #802
- Czech narozeniny[ˈnarozɛɲɪnɪ] #1,335
- Danish fødselsdag[ˈføsl̩sˌd̥æˀ] #1,214
- Dutch verjaardag/vərˈjaːrˌdɑx/ #1,197
- Esperanto naskiĝtago/naskid͡ʒˈtaɡo/ #1,395
- Estonian sünnipäev/ˈsynːipæe̯v/ #1,238
- French anniversaire/a.ni.vɛʁ.sɛʁ/ #773
- German geburtstag/ɡəˈbuːɐ̯t͡sˌtaːk/ #1,155
- Greek γενέθλια/jeˈneθʎa/ #1,614
- Hindi जन्मदिन/d͡ʒənm.d̪ɪn/ #818
- Icelandic afmæli[ˈav.maiːlɪ] #909
- Italian compleanno/kom.pleˈan.no/ #981
- Korean 생일[sʰɛŋiɭ] #549
- Lithuanian gimtadienis[ɡʲɪm²ˈtɑːdʲiɛnʲɪs] #938
- Macedonian роденден[ˈrɔdɛndɛn] #661
- Malayalam ജന്മദിനം/d͡ʒɐnmɐd̪inɐm/ #1,520
- Persian تولد[t̪ʰæ.væl.lód̪̥] #865
- Polish urodziny/u.rɔˈd͡ʑi.nɘ/ #1,426
- Portuguese parabéns/pa.ɾaˈbẽj̃s/ happy birthday! #902
- Serbian rođendan/rôd͡ʑendaːn/ #784
- Slovak narodeniny/ˈnarɔɟɛɲini/ #677
- Spanish cumpleaños/kumpleˈaɲos/ #846
- Swedish födelsedag/ˈføːdɛlsɛˌdɑːɡ/ a birthday #1,718
- Tagalog kaarawan/kaʔaɾaˈwan/ #445
- Tamil பிறந்தநாள்/pɪrɐnd̪ɐnɑːɭ/ #878
- Telugu పుట్టినరోజు/puʈːinaɾoːd͡ʑu/ #315
The speaker reads the word in the voice the LangX app uses for that language — synthesised, not a recording of a native speaker, so treat it as a guide. A row without a button has no reading we are free to use, or none we trust, yet. Voices for Bengali (google (bn_BD), CC BY-SA 4.0) and Estonian (news (et_EE), CC BY 4.0).
Knowing the word is the easy half.
Using it with someone who speaks the language is the half that sticks.