If you do genealogical research, you have probably collected many names and many dates that are associated with those names. There is the date of birth, date of marriage, date of military service, and so on until the date of death. As the New Year approaches, it might be fun to look back at the birth dates of your ancestors. Is anyone in your family tree a New Year’s baby?
I personally do not know of anyone, family or friend, who has a birthday of January 1. Of course, like any other day of the year, plenty of people are born on that day each year. One of them may be in your family tree. Some genealogists that have New Year’s babies in their family trees might also be lucky enough to have interesting family artifacts like newspaper photos or articles about the New Year’s baby. This is most likely to happen if your ancestor was the first baby born in their city or town in the New Year. I know that my local newspaper, like many others, publishes a photograph and a short article about the first baby born here each year.
Even if there are no New Year’s babies in your family, you may wonder why many New Year’s cards and decorations feature illustrations of babies. “Baby New Year” is a cultural symbol with ancient roots. At the beginning of each year, the ancient Greeks would parade around with a baby in a basket to symbolize the rebirth and fertility of Dionysus, the God of Wine. Today, Baby New Year is often depicted as a little boy wearing only a diaper and a top hat. The story behind this imagery is that the baby grows quickly over the course of the year. By the end of December, he will be an old man, another cultural symbol called “Father Time”. Baby New Year carries with him the hope and promise of good luck and prosperity in the coming year.