Looking for a way to add some interactive group fun to a birthday party? Include some birthday-related trivia games in the entertainment agenda. You can use birthday questions to see how knowledgeable attendees are about birthdays in general or to find out who knows the most fun facts related to the guest of honor's birthday.
General Birthday Trivia Questions
What better way to kick off a birthday party than with a trivia game about birthdays in general? Everybody has a birthday, but how much do people really know about the concept? It'll be fun to find out!
Short Answer Birthday Trivia
These short-answer questions are sure to stump a few guests while allowing others to show off their extensive knowledge of birthday trivia.
- What does it mean to say that someone is wearing their birthday suit? (they're not wearing any clothes)
- At what age does a person celebrate their silver jubilee birthday? (25)
- At what age does a person celebrate their golden birthday? (when their age matches their date of birth; someone born on the 27th of any month would have a golden birthday when they turn 27)
- At what age can a person be called a centenarian? (100)
- What is the last birthday a person will celebrate as a tween? (12)
- In what culture were the first birthday cakes baked? (Ancient Rome)
- In what country did the tradition of putting candles on birthday cakes begin? (Greece)
- In what country did the practice of holding birthday parties for children begin? (Germany, in the 19th Century)
- In what country is it a tradition to eat longevity noodles on one's birthday? (China)
- In what country were children's birthday parties referred to as kinderfeste? (Germany)
- In what decade did hospitals start taking footprints of newborn babies? (the 1960s)
- To which U.S. president did Marilyn Monroe sing happy birthday, Mr. President? (John F. Kennedy)
- How many seconds pass between each of a person's birthdays (other than in leap years)? (31,536,000)
- How many hours pass between each of a person's birthdays (other than in leap years)? (8,760)
- How many minutes pass between each of a person's birthdays (other than in leap years)? (525,600)
- What religion does not observe birthdays because of a belief that doing so would displease God? (Jehovah's Witness)
- How many times does the Earth travel around the sun in between a person's birthdays? (one)
- In what country does buon compleanno mean happy birthday? (Italy)
True/False Birthday Trivia
Work in a few true/false questions to the trivia fun so that even guests who aren't ready to try out for Jeopardy have a chance of answering some questions correctly. After all, there's a 50/50 chance of getting true/false questions correct even for those who are clueless about the topic!
- Blowing out candles more than doubles the number of bacteria present on the icing of a cake. (True; a 2017 study in the Journal of Food Research says that blowing out candles increases bacteria on icing by 1,400%)
- Does the Old Testament of the Bible mention a feast held in honor of someone's birthday? (True; Genesis 40:20 talks about Pharoh holding a feast or banquet on his birthday, which probably referred to the anniversary of his coronation.)
- Employers are legally required to give employees their birthday off from work as a paid holiday. (False; some employers do this, but it is not required by law in any country.)
- The tradition of blowing out a candle on a birthday cake began as a way to ask the gods to provide protection for the person celebrating a birthday. (True; this started in Ancient Greece)
- The occasions that are most popular for sending or giving greeting cards are birthdays and graduations. (False; the two most popular card-giving occasions are birthdays and Christmas.)
- Anyone can get a copy of your birth certificate for free from the county or state where they were born. (False; health departments charge a fee to provide people with copies of their birth certificates)
- A person's hair would grow about a foot (12 inches) if they didn't get a hair cut in between two birthdays? (False; hair grows about 1/2 an inch per month, which is about six inches per year)
- In Spanish, you'd say, "Feliz aniversário" to wish someone a happy birthday. (False; this phrase is Portuguese. The phrase ¡Feliz cumpleaños! is Spanish for happy birthday.)
- In French, you'd say, "bon anniversaire!" to wish someone a happy birthday. (True)
Birthday Questions About the Guest of Honor
You could also focus on birthday trivia specific to the person who is celebrating a birthday. Unless you know that person very well, you'll probably need their input to come up with a good list of questions and answers. Use some of the ones listed below to get started, then add some specific to the birthday person's personal story. For these questions, the answers will vary based on whose birthday is being celebrated.
Fun Facts About the Birthday Person
You can ask ahead of time so you have the answers for a traditional trivia game, or opt for a dating game-style match where the birthday person reveals the truth based on other people's guesses.
- At what age did the guest of honor have their first slumber party?
- How long after turning old enough to drive did the guest of honor get their driving license?
- How many birthdays did the guest of honor celebrate before moving out on their own?
- At what age did the guest of honor become legal to drink alcohol in the place where they lived at the time?
- At what birthday did it become legal for the guest of honor to get married in the place where they lived at the time?
- What was the guest of honor's favorite birthday gift ever?
- What is the birthday person's favorite kind of birthday cake?
- What is the guest of honor's favorite birthday meal?
- Has the birthday person ever taken a vacation on their birthday?
- What is the most unusual thing the birthday person ever did on their birthday?
- Who is the first politician the birthday person voted for after becoming old enough to vote?
- Name a famous person who shares a birthday with the guest of honor.
- What is the birthday person's astrological sign?
Headlines From the Year They Were Born
You'll need to do some research about historical events that took place in the year the person was born to come up with the answers to these questions. You'll need to know the year the birthday celebrant was born, then set out to identify key events that took place that year. These are tough, so you might want to encourage guests to use their phones.
- Who was president of the United States the year the guest of honor was born?
- What movie received the Best Picture in the Academy Awards (Oscars) the year the birthday person was born?
- What was one of the most popular primetime TV shows the year the person was born?
- Who was Time magazine's person of the year the guest of honor was born?
- What is an item commonly used now that was invented the year the birthday person was born?
- What was the average price of gasoline the year they were born?
- What was the minimum wage in the U.S. the year the person was born?
- What was the Earth's population the year the person was born?
- Who was the governor of the state you live in when the guest of honor was born?
- What was the most in-demand Christmas gift the year the person was born?
Printable Birthday Trivia Questions
Printable versions of the above questions are provided below. Simply click the image of the set of questions you want to print or save. The file will open as a printable PDF that you can use right away or save for later. Feel free to save both and use them as you see fit. Use this guide to printables if you need assistance with the documents.
Ways to Use Trivia Questions at a Birthday Party
Fun facts and trivia are the foundation of a lot of fun party games. There are a number of different ways to use trivia games at a birthday party. Consider the size of the group and the temperament of the guests when deciding what to do.
- Conversation starter: Write or type individual trivia questions on a sheet of paper with the answer on the back. Have each guest draw one when they come in. Task each person with asking their question to different party guests until they find someone who knows the answer. Whoever finds someone who gets the question right wins a prize, along with the person who knew the answer.
- Pub trivia: Have people form trivia teams and assign people be the emcee and someone to keep score (maybe the guest of honor and the host, or volunteers who agree in advance). Call out questions and assign points to the team that gets the answer first. The team with the most points at the end wins the game.
- DIY Jeopardy game: Create a DIY Jeopardy board game ahead of time. Ask guests who want to play to enter their names in a drawing, then pull names to select the contestants. Host a few rounds, with new people being chosen to play the winner of the previous round. End the festivities with a tournament of champions between those who won the most rounds.
Start a New Birthday Party Tradition
Trivia games might not be one of the most common birthday traditions around the world, but that's a benefit if you're looking to host a unique birthday gathering for a special friend or relative. You just might start a new trend, with each person in your circle who hosts a birthday party competing to come up with new trivia questions to ask. You just might find that your name is the answer to a trivia question about who first started this fun and fabulous birthday trivia tradition!
