ameliede@... writes:

I agree that the Hebrew date, which is given on many records we are
getting through JewishGen, should be the
basis for establishing birth dates.

Remember that many of our ancestors did not have the same modern day
conveniences that we take for granted like electronic calendars, spell check,
etc.

Births were often remembered by the season or the holiday. I know in
later life my grandfather actually tried to figure out his own birth date and at
one point celebrated two different birthdays about a month apart. He was
born in what is today the Ukraine around 1898 and his mother had told him
we was born just before the high holy days. He immigrated to the USA when
he was seven and ultimately selected a date in September for his birthday.

I suspect this is a common approach to how birthdays were "established."

Allan Jordan