About

What Time Were You Born? is a phrase which is often asked by those who believe in astrology in order to build a person's natal chart and check for compatibility. Starting in November 2020, memes about the question, the process of finding out one's time of birth and those who ask about it gained popularity online.

Context and Origin

In astrology, knowing a person's exact time of birth is required to build their natal chart (or birth chart). Building such a chart allows the astrologer to check if the person is compatible with them or with another person. Therefore, a person asking for the time of birth can be interpreted an expression of interest and them regarding the other person as a potential partner.

The first instance of use of the phrase "What time were you born?" for humorous purposes is unknown. On August 18th, 2019, Twitter^[1] user @m3aruf made one of the earliest humorous posts using the phrase, gaining nearly 30 retweets and 140 likes (shown below).

Spread

Prior to November 2020, the phrase saw occasional use in humorous posts and memes. For example, on July 30th, 2020, Twitter^[2] user @AstroByMax made a tweet comparing asking for one's time of birth to asking for their nudes. The tweet (shown below, left) received over 130 retweets and 330 likes. On October 6th, 2020, Twitter^[3] user @balideash made a tweet that received over 1,100 retweets and 4,400 likes (shown below, right).

On November 26th, 2020, Twitter^[4] user @astr0l0gyjunkie posted “What time were you born EXACTLY call ur mom,” accompanied by a humorous illustration. The post (shown below) received over 25,700 retweets and 159,600 likes in five days.

Following @astr0l0gyjunkie's post, memes about asking a person to learn their exact time of birth from their mother gained popularity online.

Various Examples

Search Interest

External References