A pineapple-flavored birthday cake reading "Happy Birthday Malcolm"
The Enterprise-D throws a surprise party for Worf with hats, balloons and streamers
Making a wish and blowing out candles on a cake is a common tradition
Kes opens a boxed gift on her birthday
A birthday was the anniversary of the day of an individual's birth. Humans particularly enjoyed celebrating birthdays, typically with a birthday party. A birthday cake was a cake served to a person on his or her birthday.
In August 2151, Matthew Ryan of the ECS Fortunate had a conversation with Travis Mayweather about their experiences on Earth Cargo Service freighters. Ryan recalled once that when it was someone's birthday on the Fortunate, his mother would bake a cake. He punned that he "knew batter than to ask" what it was made of. (ENT: "Fortunate Son")
In 2154, Commander Charles Tucker III told T'Pol that she looked nice, "kind of like an old oil painting." T'Pol replied that she was not old, as she would only be 66 years old on her next birthday. (ENT: "Zero Hour")
The Prime James T. Kirk, born on March 22nd, reluctantly celebrated his 52nd birthday in 2285 when his close friend Dr. Leonard McCoy gave him a pair of 18th century eyeglasses. He later pawned these in 1986 San Francisco. When Spock asked, "Excuse me, weren't those a birthday present from Doctor McCoy?" Kirk replied, "And they will be again, that's the beauty of it." Spock gave him an antique copy of A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens. (Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan; Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home)
In 2333, Sarah Sisko abandoned her family just after Benjamin Sisko's first birthday. (DS9: "Image in the Sand")
Just before Julian Bashir's seventh birthday in 2348, he was taken to alien hospital on Adigeon Prime by his parents Richard and Amsha Bashir and the doctors there began resequencing his DNA. (DS9: "Doctor Bashir, I Presume")
In 2350, young Annika Hansen celebrated her sixth birthday on the USS Raven with her parents Magnus and Erin Hansen. (VOY: "The Raven")
In 2364, T'Shanik told Wesley Crusher that he did not look like he met the age requirements for the Starfleet Academy entrance exam. In response, he told her that he was turning sixteen the next month, to which Oliana Mirren announced "Happy birthday!" (TNG: "Coming of Age")
In 2365, Dr. Kingsley, who appeared to be a middle-aged woman, told Katherine Pulaski via the viewscreen that she had just celebrated her thirty-fifth birthday a week prior. (TNG: "Unnatural Selection")
In 2367, William T. Riker celebrated his birthday on stardate 44286.5. That day he celebrated it with a party in Ten Forward. (TNG: "Future Imperfect")
In 2368, Geordi La Forge told Data he could not remember what he did for his birthday when he turned seven, but could clearly remember when he first got his Circassian cat at the age of eight. (TNG: "Violations")
Marc Brooks died five months before his 38th birthday, which would have been around stardate 44356.9 in the year 2367. (TNG: "The Loss")
In 2369, Miles and Keiko O'Brien went back to Earth to attend the 100th birthday of Keiko's mother. (DS9: "Dax")
The same year, Jadzia Dax suggested that it was Quark's birthday because of all the Ferengi visitors who arrived at the station. (DS9: "The Nagus")
Beverly Crusher came to Ten Forward once to give Guinan a gift, a tennis racket. Guinan wondered aloud if it was someone's birthday, to which Crusher stated "not unless it is yours." (TNG: "Suspicions")
In 2370, Miles O'Brien asked Kotan Pa'Dar when the last time he saw his son, Rugal. Pa'Dar told O'Brien that it was just after he had his fourth birthday. (DS9: "Cardassians")
Miles O'Brien's birthday was in September. (DS9: "Whispers")
In 2371, Miles O'Brien prepared a romantic dinner for his wife Keiko to cheer her up after the school she taught at on Deep Space 9 was closed down due to a lack of students. She wondered why Miles went to so much trouble to make a nice dinner for since it was neither their anniversary nor her birthday. (DS9: "The House of Quark")
Later that year, Gul Dukat's son Mekor celebrated his eleventh birthday. Dukat had promised to make the time to take him to an amusement center in Lakarian City, but was unable to so, as he and Commander Benjamin Sisko were busy tracking down the stolen USS Defiant. (DS9: "Defiant")
Ensign Quintana's birthday in 2371 was around stardate 48423.2. Kira Nerys gave him a free hour in the holosuite as a birthday present. (DS9: "Meridian")
Later that year, Seska lamented to B'Elanna Torres that her brother's birthday was coming up and that she would not be able to celebrate it with him since she was trapped in the Delta Quadrant on the USS Voyager. (VOY: "Prime Factors")
Doctor Julian Bashir considered his thirtieth birthday in 2371 a major turning point in his life, although the Human lifespan by then was so long that he was still in the first part of his life. (DS9: "Distant Voices")
Onara mentioned to Benjamin Sisko that she was having her daughter's ih'tanu ceremony in the Bajoran temple and she was turning fourteen. Sisko said "Happy birthday." (DS9: "Accession")
Elim Garak mentioned to Quark that he was planning on canceling his date with Tora Ziyal in his holosuites because he had visions that she would present his head to her father, Dukat, as a birthday present. (DS9: "For the Cause")
Benjamin Sisko commented in 2373 upon the death of the latter that Jake Sisko and Enrique Muniz shared the same birthday. (DS9: "The Ship")
In 2373, Dukat made an announcement that Cardassia Prime had joined the Dominion and promised with the help of the Dominion that, on his oldest son's birthday which was to have been five days from then, that no Klingon would be alive inside Cardassian territory, nor would there be any Maquis settlements within the Cardassian borders. (DS9: "By Inferno's Light")
Miles O'Brien mentioned to Kira Nerys in 2373 that he was planning on building a dollhouse for his daughter Molly's birthday. (DS9: "Children of Time")
In an alternate timeline created by the Krenim weapon ship, Commander Chakotay gave Captain Janeway a pocket watch for her birthday. Later, in that same alternate timeline, Obrist stated to Lieutenant Tom Paris that he had continued to honor the day of birth of his brother, parents, and friends for over a century while serving on the Krenim weapon ship until he realized he had been celebrating birthdays for people who were dead or who had never even existed. (VOY: "Year of Hell", "Year of Hell, Part II")
In 2374, Morn planned on traveling to Luria from Terok Nor for his mother's birthday. However, he encoded a message in one of her presents from Major Kira to give to Benjamin Sisko on Starbase 375. (DS9: "Favor the Bold")
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Vulcans do not widely share or celebrate their birthday
In 2376, Janeway had to search the databanks for hours on end, but eventually found Lieutenant Commander Tuvok's birthday, and replicated him a cake with a candle on it. He claimed that this was a Human tradition, and Vulcans did not "blow out candles." In the end, he blew it out, claiming that "it was a fire hazard." (VOY: "Fury")
In 2378, Ensign Harry Kim hoped to speak with his mother for the first time in seven years in time for her birthday, due to Operation Watson being successful in establishing contact with Voyager. In a draw, he got one of the lowest isolinear chips, meaning he would be able to speak to her in a couple of months. However, Tom Paris swapped Kim's chip with his, which meant he would be able to speak with her in a couple days. Paris asked Kim in return to sing "Happy Birthday" to her. (VOY: "Author, Author")
In 2380, Commander Jack Ransom celebrated his birthday on stardate 57538.9. (LD: "Moist Vessel")
A scene included in the script of "Coming of Age", but not the final episode, would have established that Klingons did not celebrate birthdays like Humans did. Instead, in the words of Worf, "Klingons are born, live as warriors, and die." A somewhat analogous annual celebration was later established. The scene also had musings on Human birthdays, and particularly the fact that Humans looked forward to them until they reached a certain age and it became a source of discomfort.
In the first draft script of Star Trek Generations, Jean-Luc Picard wished Data "Happy birthday!", saying that, because Data had recently started experiencing emotions, he had "just been reborn."
Species that celebrated birthdays[]
- Bajoran (VOY: "Prime Factors"; DS9: "Wrongs Darker Than Death or Night")
- Cardassian (DS9: "Defiant")
- Ferengi
- Human (Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, et al.)
- Krenim (VOY: "Year of Hell")
- Lurian (DS9: "Favor the Bold")
- Malon (VOY: "Juggernaut")
- Prime (LD: "Veritas")