Having one’s birthday on Christmas Day is a lucky or unlucky coincidence depending on where one was born. In Eastern Europe it was generally considered bad luck to be born on the birthday of the Saviour. The Greeks traditionally believed that this was an affront to the Virgin Mother and Child and therefore children born on Christmas were likely to turn into monstrous kallikantzaroi. In order to prevent this from happening parents were obliged to singe the toenails of the new-born, lest they turn into claws, and bind the baby with tresses of straw or garlic. In parts of Poland and Germany it was feared that being born born on December 25 made a child more likely to become a werewolf — Christmas being the season of increased demonic power. In Silesia a Christmas birthday meant the child would be either a lawyer or a thief.
In Ireland, on the other hand, birth on Christmas allowed one to see the Little People and even to command spirits (a privilege also granted to those born on Good Friday.) In England it was lucky to be born on Christmas — one would never be hanged nor drowned nor troubled by spirits — and extra lucky if that day fell on a Sunday: one would be a great lord. To the Pennsylvania Dutch being born on Christmas Eve conveyed the power to understand the language of animals, for on that night beasts could speak and even predict the future. In the Vosges area of France a baby born on Christmas Eve would be a smooth talker but the baby born on Christmas would be a better thinker.
Some early-modern English almanacs, however, were more ambiguous. They seemed to agree that being born on Christmas was lucky if that day were a Sunday (lordship beckoned), a Wednesday (valour, nimbleness and wisdom were attributes), a Thursday (wise and persuasive speech were in store) or a Friday (a long and lecherous life lay ahead) but being born on a Christmas Day that fell on a Tuesday would lead to a life of covetousness and an evil end and a Saturday birth would result in death within half a year.
Modern scientists agree that being born on or near Christmas conveys a benefit, the so-called BIRG effect, or basking-in-reflected-glory. Studies in California and Israel have shown that a disproportionate number of famous people were born during the Christmas season and some have speculated that being born on Christmas might render a child special in his own eyes and those of his parents with consequent high expectations and the chance of a self-fulfilling prophecy. It also seems that more high-ranking Christian clergy than low-ranking were born on December 25, thus linking a Christmas birth with increased chance of success in the church hierarchy.