Happy Birthday Wishes | Examples & Tips
Happy birthday wishes may seem like simple gestures, but they spread so much joy and make others feel valued. Whether through email, text message, social media, or greeting cards, happy birthday wishes make birthdays fun and special.
Birthday messages can be short and sweet, but the most memorable ones go a bit beyond “Happy Birthday!”
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How to write special happy birthday messages
There are many ways to write a special happy birthday message, but some common tips and tricks include the following:
- Include the person’s first name. Using the person’s name immediately shows that you wrote the message specifically for them (e.g., Happy Birthday, Raul!). Double and triple check that you spelled the person’s name correctly!
- Mention something you admire about the person. A compliment shows the other person how much they impact others. A birthday is a perfect time to hear from friends and loved ones that you truly matter.
- Share a unique memory. The memory doesn’t have to be a major life event. It just needs to remind the other person of your unique history or relationship. The memory can be as simple as a funny experience or a shared interest that brought you closer.
- Thank the person for their friendship, support, or companionship. Why are you grateful to know this person, and how does your relationship with them make life better?
Happy birthday wishes for friends
Happy birthday wishes for a friend should be informal and include details about why you value the friendship. A popular technique on social media is to place an adjective before the person’s name (e.g., “Happy Birthday, beautiful Sam!”)
Happy birthday wishes for coworkers
Birthday messages for coworkers should be upbeat and cheerful but a bit more formal than messages to close friends (unless, of course, your coworker happens to also be a good friend!). Be kind and sincere, but use formal grammar and professional boundaries.
Happy birthday wishes for a significant other
Happy birthday wishes for significant others are love messages that remind the person how much they mean to you. They don’t always have to be sappy, but they should reflect your unique relationship in an original or personalized way.
Happy Birthday to my amazing husband! You’re the most hardworking, salt-of-the-earth, and modest person I know, and you deserve to be celebrated.
Happy birthday wishes for family
Whether they’re your parent, grandparent, sibling, aunt, uncle, niece, or nephew, people love hearing from family on birthdays. Personalize happy birthday wishes for family by mentioning what you admire, appreciate, or fondly remember.
If you can’t be there to celebrate in person, you might also include well wishes for your family member’s birthday plans.
Milestone birthday messages
When someone reaches a milestone (e.g., becoming a legal adult at age 18), happy birthday wishes should acknowledge the significance of the occasion. These birthday messages often reflect on the person’s accomplishments and experience, personal growth, or opportunities for the future.
If you’ve known the person for a long time, a milestone birthday message might also reflect back on your history together.
Milestone birthday messages can also be brief and upbeat.
Funny happy birthday wishes
Sometimes funny happy birthday wishes are the way to go for people who you know extremely well or who have a great sense of humor. Funny happy birthday wishes often include puns–words that sound similar but have different meanings (e.g., “Thanks for showing us all how to age so graycefully”).
You might also use verbal irony, which involves saying the opposite of what you mean (e.g., using “old” to describe someone younger than 30).
If you decide to send funny happy birthday wishes, keep the jokes light-hearted, and make sure the audience is in on the joke.
Happy Birthday! In case you didn’t know, you can’t change the past, you can’t predict the future, and I didn’t get you a present.
Happy Birthday! Owl see you later at the party. It’s gonna be a real hoot!
If you use a signature birthday greeting, change it once per year so that the people in your network aren’t getting the same exact birthday wish from you year after year.
Frequently asked questions about happy birthday wishes
- How do I send happy birthday wishes in a simple text message?
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To send happy birthday wishes in a simple text message, write 1-3 sentences to tell the person that you hope they have a wonderful birthday.
Personalize the message with the person’s name, and include a sincere compliment or a specific wish for their special day.
Add birthday themed emojis (e.g., cake or balloons) or gifs to make the text message extra special.
Happy birthday wishes simple text example Happy Birthday, Lee! Thanks for being such a fun and loyal friend! I hope your birthday trip is a blast!QuillBot’s free Grammar Checker can help you proofread birthday wishes before you send them.
- How do I write belated happy birthday messages?
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To write belated happy birthday messages for a friend or family member, write 1-3 sentences to say that you hope they had a great birthday. Include the word “belated” or “late” to acknowledge that they’re receiving your message after the birthday has passed.
Say what you appreciate about the person or how wonderful you hope their birthday was.
Belated happy birthday message example Wishing a belated happy birthday, Gretchen! I hope your day was filled with all the things that you love. Cheers to another year of you!QuillBot’s free Grammar Checker can help you proofread belated happy birthday wishes before you send them.
- What does happy belated birthday mean?
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Happy belated birthday means “happy late birthday.” You can also say “belated happy birthday.” Both are appropriate happy birthday wishes when you missed the birthday but still want to acknowledge it and spread birthday cheer.
Happy belated birthday example Happy belated birthday, Lily! You light up every room and make everyone’s lives better. I hope your party was amazing, and I can’t wait to celebrate with you this weekend.If you’re looking for more ways to say “happy belated birthday,” QuillBot’s free Paraphraser can help you reword happy late birthday messages.
- Is happy birthday capitalized?
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Happy birthday is sometimes capitalized and sometimes not depending on the context. The capitalization rules for “happy birthday” and “birthday” are as follows:
- Capitalize “Happy Birthday!” when it’s part of a greeting (e.g., “Happy Birthday, Lynn!”).
- “Birthday” is not a proper noun like holidays such as Halloween or Thanksgiving, so the only other time it’s capitalized is when it begins a sentence or is part of a title (e.g., “Birthdays are special”).
- Don’t capitalize “happy birthday” when “birthday” is a noun that functions as the subject of a sentence (e.g., “A happy birthday doesn’t always need to include cake and parties”).
- Don’t capitalize “happy birthday” when it’s a direct object that receives the action in a sentence (e.g., “I hope you had a happy birthday yesterday”).
- Don’t capitalize “happy” or “birthday” when either or both of these words are adjectives that modify another noun (e.g., “I spent the entire afternoon reading my happy birthday messages on Facebook” or “We ate the entire birthday cake”).
A QuillBot Grammar Check can help you proofread happy birthday messages for capitalization errors.
