Template:Birth year and age

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This template uses Lua:

This template is used on approximately 42,000 pages and changes may be widely noticed. Test changes in the template's /sandbox or /testcases subpages, or in your own user subpage. Consider discussing changes on the talk page before implementing them.

Usage[edit source]

The templates {{Birth year and age}} and {{Death year and age}} return a person's year of birth or death and their approximate age. The templates are useful when only the year, or year and month, of a person's birth and/or death are known, or if it is desired not to state a person's full dates of birth and death for privacy reasons.

Such an approximation differs from the approximation generated by {{Birth based on age as of date}}; the latter can be used when the only detail available about someone's birth is a reference that establishes their age as of a certain date (such as the date that the reference was published).

The examples on this page use the current date as 15 April 2025

The person's age is estimated as follows:

{{Birth year and age}}[edit source]

Let us assume:

that the person in question was born some time in 1970; and
that the present date is 15 April 2025.

If the person was born after 15 April 1970 then they will be 54 years old on 15 April 2025 as they have not had their 55th birthday yet. On the other hand, if they were born exactly on or before 15 April 1970, then they will be 55 years old.
Therefore, the template {{Birth year and age|1970}}

displays their birth year and age as: 1970 (age 54–55)
Optionally, if we know the person's birth month but not the day, we can also have the template display the month.
Let us assume that the person was born in June 1970. Therefore:
- If it is presently January 2025, then this year the person has not had their birthday yet. Therefore, the template {{Birth year and age|1970|6}} displays their birth year and age as: 1970 (age 54).
- If it is presently June 2025, we do not know whether the person has had their birthday this year yet since their day of birth is unknown. Therefore, the template displays their birth year and age as: 1970 (age 54–55).
- If it is presently December 2025, then this year the person has already had their birthday. Therefore, the template displays their birth year and age as: 1970 (age 55).

{{Death year and age}}[edit source]

Let us assume:

that the person in question was born some time in 1974; and
that they died some time in 2024.

We can posit as two extremes: (1) that the person was born on 31 December 1974 and died on 1 January 2024, in which case they would have been 49 years old at the time of their death as they did not achieve their 50th birthday on 31 December 2024; and (2) that they were born on 1 January 1974 and died on 31 December 2024, in which case they would have been 50 years old at the time of their death as they had their 50th birthday on 1 January 2024.

Therefore, the template {{Death year and age|2024|1974}}

renders their death year and age as: 2024 (aged 49–50)

Optionally, if we know the month of the person's death but not the day, we can also have the template display the month.

Using the above examples and assuming the month is 04 (April)

Therefore, the template {{Death year and age|2024|1974|04}}

displays their death year and age as: April 2024 (aged 49–50)

If you wish to set out the full dates of birth and/or death of a person and thus to calculate their age accurately, please use the templates {{Birth date and age}} and {{Death date and age}}.

Syntax[edit source]

<syntaxhighlight lang="wikitext"> year of birth (age Expression error: Unrecognized word "year".–Expression error: Unrecognized word "year".)Expression error: Unrecognized word "year". year of birth (age Expression error: Unrecognized word "optional".)Expression error: Unrecognized word "year".Expression error: Unrecognized word "optional". year of death (aged Expression error: Unrecognized word "year".–Expression error: Unrecognized word "year".) year of death (aged Expression error: Unrecognized word "year".–Expression error: Unrecognized word "year".) </syntaxhighlight>

Examples[edit source]

{{Birth year and age|1970}} → 1970 (age 54–55)
```
1970 (age&nbsp;54&ndash;55)
```

{{Birth year and age|1970|3}} → March 1970 (age 55)
```
March&nbsp;1970 (age&nbsp;55)
```

{{Birth year and age|1970|5}} → May 1970 (age 54)
```
May&nbsp;1970 (age&nbsp;54)
```

{{Death year and age|2024|1974}} → 2024 (aged 49–50)
```
2024 (aged&nbsp;49&ndash;50)
```

{{Death year and age|2024|1974|04}} → April 2024 (aged 49–50)
```
April 2024 (aged&nbsp;49&ndash;50)
```

TemplateData[edit source]

Returns a person's year of birth and their approximate age

Template parameters
Parameter		Description	Type	Status
Year of birth	`1`	no description	Number	required
Month of birth	`2`	Optional month of birth	Number	suggested