Those of us born in 1957 will turn 57 this year

/ January 18, 2014
(From greetingcardsuniverse.com)

(From greetingcardsuniverse.com)

Update: I have discovered that this special match is now called the Beddian Birthday. Find out why by clicking to my story here.

Before another day of 2014 slips by, I must weigh in on a fact that’s quite intriguing to me.

All of us born in the year 1957 will experience our 57th birthday this year.

Considering that more people were born in America in 1957 than any other year of the celebrated baby boom — 4.3 million, according to bbhq.com — that confluence of numbers is significant for a lot of people.

There are millions of us Americans running around that will turn 57 this year, our special class of birth year 1957. That’s a lot of candles on a lot of cakes.

Think about it.

For one thing, unless you live longer than 100 years AND were born toward the beginning of the century, your age matching the last two digits of your birth year will happen just once a lifetime.

Those of you born in 2000, unless you reach 100, forget it. And passing the century mark is the only way the last two digits of your birth and your age could possibly be an exact match.

For some reason, the match only happens for anybody every other year. I discovered this by using my fingers, toes and trial and error. For example: Those people born in 1956 turned 56 years old in 2012. Those people born in 1958 will turn 58 in 2016. (Feel free to explain with formulas in the comment section, math majors.)

If you’re 13 or younger, your match has gone by. Did you notice? If you were born in 1956 or earlier, you’ve had your magic year already. Anybody figure out the match?

Take note TV hosts Matt Lauer and Katy Couric, singers Donnie Osmond and Gloria Estefan, actors Steve Harvey and Ray Romana, civil rights leader Martin Luther King III and director Spike Lee. All of you share this:

We were all born in 1957. We will all turn 57 years old this year.

Kind of special, don’t you think?

Let’s start a movement. (I know, for the men this may be easier than for the women.) We have made it this far. We think 57 is the new 57. That’s right. We are proud of the number. In some ways we feel like we’re 17. In other ways, we love what’s happened in the 40 years since then.

It’s our year.

Don’t you think No. 57 is the one to go big on for your birthday? I wrote another post about our Beddian year suggesting just that.

Here’s the link to comment about your Beddian Birthday celebration, whether it’s gone by, or still to come.

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129 thoughts on “Those of us born in 1957 will turn 57 this year”

  1. Mark,

    I just came across this post that you wrote 3 years ago.

    March of 2016 was my “Beddian” birthday, , and I remember looking to see if there was a name for this coincidence, and think I found the term “Beddian” birthday, but not your post, or the explanation. (I thought “Beddian” was some an ancient word ! Lol!)

    However, I just came across it because I was looking to see if there was a term for another u phenomena or coincidence I am experiencing this year, which I also think is mathematically rare. ( I couldn’t find any word for it).

    Specifically, this year in March I turn 59, which is my wife’s birth year, and 6 weeks later she will turn 58 which is my birth year!

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  3. I turned 58 this year and told everyone that this was my birth year birthday. Thought I had discovered something new. Now I find out it already has a name. I have a child born in 1991 and one in 1994. They both have a long time to wait. Those kids born in 2000 – have no beddian b-day.

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    • We were fortunate, those of us born in the mid 20th century, Michael, to be able to experience our Beddian Birthday at a point in our lives when we could sit back and reflect and still be spry enough to enjoy the experience! Thanks for dropping by, and happy BB year, sir. 🙂

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  4. Rats! I completely missed this – I turned 57 on 12/06/2014. Had I known it was “special” I would have celebrated more! Oh well, Happy Belated 57 to all of us! And like the fellow born on 10/28, many many times when I look at the clock, it is 12:06.

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  6. Being an everyday bored teenager, I get geeky when it comes to stuff like this. But I won’t have my Beddian birthday until 2094, being that my birth year is 1997!
    I still have 79 more years for that… and I certainly won’t be bold and young as you by that time. Those born in 1979 graduated HS in 1997, and you can flip the numbers. It works for those ending in ’02, ’13, ’24, ’35, ’46, ’57, ’68, ’79.
    It doesn’t help for us born at the tail-end of a century.

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    • Great math, Michael! Thanks for you great contribution to this forever Beddian Birthday post. I hope that by the time yours rolls around, you’ll still be bold and bodacious! Have a great day, young man.

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      • Thanks!
        I’ve also got to put out that anybody born in 2000, are not instantaneously born Beddian, they wouldn’t get theirs until the year 3000… when they are a thousand, which accords with their year, two-THOUSAND.
        Just something interesting.
        Take care.

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  7. My two cents worth. I have a daughter turning 57, born in May 1957.

    And, if I make it to 2034 I will be 100 years old…born in July 1934.

    If my sister-in-law hangs on for five more years, until 2020. she will turn 100 that May. (She actually has a good shot at it, as the women in her family are very long-livers.)

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    • oops…faulty logic there on my part. My daughter is having a Beddian birthday this year, botn in 57 and turning 57.

      Not me though…nor my sis-in-law. I tried to figure it out…but had a brain scramble. I chalk that up to overload of information.

      duh…

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  8. Is that Oneida? I’m from Canandaigua.

    D

    Boddhisatva

    Her heart, while sticking tongue out,
    leads a sheltered life,
    doesn’t drink, nor dance,
    Norfolk, it’s in her dreams.

    Shocked by lack of fidelity,
    still pure, as she has never…
    though the thought comes:
    Now free, pretty and young.

    Brother nudges open eyes,
    Confucian box blown open.
    Evident culture gap,
    yet she jumps his way.

    Cosmic bonding creates a further
    life, tantric self-love springs to
    relaxed life, freedom to be, to
    elongate burdensome boundaries.

    Will she head back to marry,
    deny uncoiling life, to prove
    obedience? Dry flowers yield,
    break mid-air as she walks.

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  14. Hi Mark, my friend, Camille, and I are celebrating our 57th birthday today and were born in 57. She’s just a mere 10 minutes older than I. Unfortunately, this year due to some unexpected health issues, I’ve been feeling like a ’57 Chevy! Thanks for your info on our Beddian birthday…:)

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  16. To get the year when you turn the same age as the last two digits of your birth year, you add those two digits TO your birth year, or in other words multiply the last two digits by 2. That’s why it can only happen in even-numbered years.

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    • Well, my friend Motten, I do believe you have discovered the yearly double! I did not think about that fact, but you are right. They, too, are experiencing their once-in-a-lifetime Beddian Birthday this year. Welcome aboard those who have and will turn 7 in this year!

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  18. If there were so many people born in 1957, then in 1975 should have been the highest number of High School graduates. Notice the same 4 numbers in each.

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  19. I’ll be 57 in August, I remember thinking 30 yrs ago when I was turning 27, “It’ll be 2014 before I reach the age of my birth year,” wow, it’s really here, time flies..

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    • I know, it does fly, Sheryl. Weren’t we all getting our first legal beers together last year, 1975? I hope you have a great Beddian Birthday celebration on your day in August.

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  21. I’m also celebrating my birthday tomorrow (June 1 1957). I want to thank you for all this info about us 57ers. Knew there was a lot of us but 4.3 million, well, we should have been a force to be reckoned with. Wish I would have known this earlier!

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  22. As a child of ’65, my Beddian Birthday projects to 2030, the year when NASA hopes to land a man on mars. Yours is when you turn 57; at mine, I will turn 75.

    A good fun-with-numbers post, Mark. I’d never heard of this before.

    Liked by 1 person

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    • That would be a great event for your Beddian Birthday year, Michael. Man on Mars. Just think about that!

      I had a lot of fun researching this ’57 class turns 57 matter. I knew I felt special about it and wondered if anybody else did. Oh, what I found about Mr. Beddian.

      And yours comes when you turn 75. Numbers are so interesting.

      I bought ‘The Mirror’ on iBooks yesterday. I will start it ASAP!

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      • If they sent a supply ship loaded with Lagavulin to Mars ahead, I could probably be talked into the 2030 trip, even if it was one way. At least I’d get to see those secret archeological ruins that are alleged to exist there and maybe find an old antique light sabre or something. Then I’d be Darth Navigator as far as ideological feminists would be concerned. I almost feel like I should do the raspy heavy breathing routine.

        Appreciate the support with the iBook, Mark. Thank you. It’s an emotive book (as well as being analytical) that’s meant to be a sort of intimate conversation over coffee, style-wise, v. a more dispassionate journalistic treatment of events.

        My experience, which the book recounts, was that the official system was obstinately resistant to the rational and dispassionate truth about itself. So, I made a passionate plea to the common man and woman to take notice of what is actually going on, and why. The response of the official system and its constituent elements is going to be interesting, if I can get some traction for this story.

        Liked by 1 person

      • What’s remarkable about this, Mark, is that what happened to me is par for the course here. Some columnists have tried tackling the topic, but to no avail. The system doesn’t change, and the story never seems to stick long enough.

        Hopefully, the book can explain why this is so (perhaps with the help of the sequel), and it can also present the story that finally sticks like Crazy Glue. What’s going on has to be stopped.

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      • Excellent point, Mark. I actually considered feminism as an enemy system when I began my analysis of it. The book’s been designed to attack feminism’s strategic centre of gravity (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Center_of_gravity_(military)), and the book’s underlying thesis, intriguingly, predicts that feminism’s exposure to the thesis (via the book(s)) cannot help but spell feminism’s demise.

        Can’t say any more without going into spoiler alert mode.

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      • Mark,
        Thanks so much for doing the research on this! I was born 5/31/57, so tomorrow is my Beddian Birthday! I had been doing some half-hearted searching, but mostly asking everyone if they knew what you would call when your age matched your birth year – no one knew! Most people said “Golden Birthday” but that’s your age and day match. I’m a numbers guy/geek too (a relic from playing intramural sports with math graduate students at Va Tech, and scores were never reported as 16 – 27, but rather 2 to the fourth – 3 cubed). I still coach a bunch of old softball players, and we all have prime numbers, except two that are perfect (numbers).
        Thanks, can’t wait to forward this to all our other 57’s!!!

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      • Happy Beddian Birthday tomorrow, Coach! I’m so glad you found my post to help clear up, somewhat, the mystery of ’57 turning 57. I, like you, just know something special was afoot for us this year.

        I love how you VaTechers reported your intramural scores. We were’t that creative reporting our Pat’s Gang scores across the sports for UMaryland intramurals. Oh, I miss those competitions. I smell a Throwback Thursday coming on, thanks to you …

        Please do pass the news and link along to more ’57s. We are a big and vibrant crowd, I find.

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  24. 9/21/57 thank you for making it special 🙂 I was trying to make the math the other day ……..result: Beddian birthday awesome!!!

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    • Francis, I knew this had to be a special year for those of us born in 1957, and I kept on chipping away at the research until I found the story about fallen firefighter Beddian. And so we turn 57, our Beddian birthday, proud with this bit of knowledge. Happy BBD to you next month, fellow born in ’57er.

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  26. I was born May 15, 1957. I just turned 57. So I am living my “confluence year” now for the next 364 days now. Confluence, more often than not, actually refers to the meeting of 2 bodies of water. The other term is conflux. I always thought there would be some greek term to describe this conflulence of last 2 digits of birth year and age. Something similar to a palindrome (greek word for “running back again” – kayak, civic, radar, level, racecar, etc). Obviously no so term exists. I prefer the word “eclipse”. This mathematical explanation only works if you were born between 1999. Add the year you were born to your age and you will get your age. In my case 1957 + 57 = 2014.

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  27. I was born in 1957 on May 7th (05/07) so this is my 57, 57, 57 birthday. That only happens to people whose birth date matches their birth year. I haven’t been able to find any sort of name for that. I think I will buy myself a lottery ticket on that day.

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    • I don’t know about the May 7 part, but the 1957 turning 57 part is the Beddian birthday, named after the New York City fireman who noted the signicance of the last two digits of birth year and age you’re turning. I link to a story about him on my post.

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  28. Never knew about the Beddian Birthday before… mine was in 1994, which is very interesting as it was one miserable year for me…. but in retrospect also the beginning of a new awakening for my life, although I didn’t realize it at the time… so it was significant…

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  30. I too am a 57 baby, along with my twin sister. I live in West Hollywood, Ca. and she lives in a small town in South Carolina. Many of my high school classmates were born in ’57 and we graduated in ’75. We turn May 2nd. Going to be a magical year. Need to buy some stock in Heinz 57 sauce and then buy me a ’57 Chevy.

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    • Happy Beddian Birthday to you and your twin sister, Deven. I too graduated from high school in 1975, adding that little twist to the play on numbers. I hope your stock soars!

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  31. I was doing a search on this topic – I also will be 57 this August and thought I should give myself a party and wanted to know if others where also doing that. Now I KNOW I want to have a big, fun party!!! Thanks!!!

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    • I’m glad you found my piece, Carol. I just knew that this birthday had to be special for all of us born in 1957, and was quite amazed at what I found. Happy Beddian Birthday, my friend!

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  33. Probably got something to do Chaos (it is perfectly ordered to be chaotic). Might be interesting at the end of the year to take the dates and times of us Beddians this year that appear here and see how they arithmetically present themselves.

    Smile Beddians of ’57 – we’re old enough to know better but young enough to never grow old!

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  34. Another year of being timeless all due to the fact of being ushered forth in 57′. I too celebrate my 57th anniversary this year. I’m a Beddian this year (Thanks for providing that information – I’d been wondering what it was) and I’m not sure whether the timing is such that I get to go back and do it all over with what I know now (instead of knowing nothing the first time around) or that added together I’m 114 (but timeless for all intents and purposes). 1957, Old and Heavy Gold.

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    • I, too, feel that we have had a somewhat charmed ride, us Beddian Birthday designees that turn 57 this year, Doug. A fellow blogger wrote me that her brother was born on May 7, 1957. 5/7/57. Now that must line up the universe forever for that fellow, don’t you think?

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      • Being a Scorpio (October 28 at 2:18 AM) I’d say that was “spooky” (in all it’s senses – yep, jus’ pondering it makes my hair stand a bit for the power behind those numbers). Just a little more spookiness (since I celebrated 56 last year) most evenings since when I glimpse or choose to note the time the clock displays 10:28. How’s that for timing?

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  37. Pingback: Don’t give me no lies and … | markbialczak

  38. 1-1-1957.Joined the Navy in 1974.I graduated early so I could defend our U.S.A. against the Soviet Union Evil Empire.I got to battle darth helmut and other cool stuff.Worked on a Submarine Tender taking care of our 41 for freedom boats that carried the Polaris missiles.USN 1974-1980.We were lucky to be born when we did.I am worried for my sons now they are 32,26,and 17 years old and mistakes are no longer allowed.That and I see our nation turning into what Orwell warned us about.

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    • Jan. 1, 1957, you are the earliest into our birth year club I’ve met here so far, Steve. Thank you for protecting our country with the military. I have a daughter who turns 24 in April, and I hope our children’s generation is smart enough to keep this ship sailing strong.

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  39. Pingback: A search for the true meaning of 57 for ’57 | markbialczak

  40. Mark, I figured this out on my own last year and I’m going to plan a Huge Party with my friends to celebrate! My only question is: what should we name this magical year? It isn’t a ‘gold’ birthday for us, so what is it???

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  41. I’m just getting used to being 56 and now you’ve got me thinking about turning 57!! That’s just cruel. As long as we’re talking math, we always thought it was cool (and unique) that those of us born in 57 graduated from high school in 75. See how the numbers transpose? Now it just seems silly!

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    • It is both cool and unique that those of us born in ’57 graduated from high school in ’75, Greg. It doesn’t seem silly to me at all. Sorry to make you start thinking about turning 5-7, but this is our year!

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  42. I’m right there with you, Mark, as you know … I’ll actually get there 7 months before you! I bet others do this too — on your birthday you check the paper (sorry, the web now) to see who shares your birthday, especially in your year. I always remember that Judge Reinhold and I were born the exact same day.

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    • I can picture you as one of the California dudes hanging out in ‘Fast Times at Ridgemont HIgh’ or as a buddy cop to Eddie Murphy, my friend. You and Judge. Who knew? I remember that when I was researching before interviewing Donnie Osmond, we were just one day apart in the birth class of 1957. I excitedly told him this, and … he was not impressed.

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  43. mark i know we are only a month apart, and i am really excited to know i’m in the 57 born in 57 category. i got absolutely dizzy trying to figure out all the math stats on this one, but maybe it’s just my age is kicking in ) very cool post –

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    • My math is rudimentary. It frighteningly takes me back to the days of “If a train left Denver going east at 47 miles per hour and a plane left New York going 247 miles an hour at the same time, in which state would they intersect?” My answer was always something smart-alecky like “they wouldn’t intersect. One’s on the ground and the other is in the air.” Have a great Saturday, now that the tea has been drunk. (Drank? Drinked? Drunked?)

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      • Yes, the tea is “gone” lol…Now you are trying me on grammar? really? Wise guy. I had forgotten all about figuring out when I will be 60…I was born in 1960 but it gets confusing because my birthday is at the end of the year lol

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      • Yes, the tea is “gone” lol…Now you are trying me on grammar? really? Wise guy. I had forgotten all about figuring out when I will be 60…I was born in 1960 but it gets confusing because my birthday is at the end of the year lol

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  49. Why might it be easier for the men, Mark? That was the only thing I didn’t understand in this post. Other than that, I thought it was kind of special. Also, I was born in 1953 and turned 53 in 2006.

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  50. Mark-
    how can you be 57?
    Your blog reads “young.” Your blog reads, “35.” I knew you had some older kids kicking around, but I guess I just didn’t do the math.

    Write on, man! You are timeless!

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