DateOfBirth

Date of birth, often abbreviated as DOB, refers to the calendar date on which a person was born. It is a fundamental piece of identifying information used to establish a person’s age, identity, and entitlement to various rights and services. Birth dates are typically recorded on official documents such as birth certificates and are stored in passports, national IDs, medical records, and school records.

Formats and regional variations are common. Many countries use day-month-year (dd/mm/yyyy), others use month-day-year (mm/dd/yyyy), and international or technical contexts often adopt year-month-day (yyyy-mm-dd) in line with ISO 8601. Older or historical records may contain two-digit years or approximate dates when the exact day is unknown. Time of birth is sometimes recorded for medical, cultural, or ceremonial reasons but is not always required for everyday identification.

Applications and significance extend across civil, legal, and administrative domains. Date of birth is used to verify age for schooling, employment, military service, voting, and access to age-restricted services. It also supports demographic research, genealogical studies, and identity verification in banking and government services.

Record-keeping and accuracy are important, as errors can lead to misidentification or incorrect age calculations. Because date of birth is personally identifiable information, it is often protected by privacy and data protection laws, with access restricted to authorized purposes and individuals.