Famous people born in May include John F. Kennedy, the 35th president of the U.S., American actress Megan Fox, American rapper YNW Melly, and Pierce Brosnan who is most famous as James Bond in GoldenEye, Tomorrow Never Dies, The World Is Not Enough, and Die Another Day.
Famous models Naomi Campbell, Olivia Attwood, Laura Whitmore, Diana Hayden, Nadia Ferreira, and Katie Price were also born in May.
Other famous celebrities and personalities with May birthdays are Facebook and Meta founder Mark Zuckerberg, Tony Blair the former Prime Minister of the UK from 1997 to 2007, and the 72nd U.S. Secretary of State since 2025, Marco Rubio. More famous people born in May are Pope John Paul II and American singer Janet Jackson.
Celebrities and personalities with birthdays in May
35 years old
Kenyan gold-medal winning athlete and long-distance runner in the 3000 and 5000 metres
Died aged 64
German philosopher, economist and political theorist whose revolutionary socialist theories and ideas are known as Marxism
59 years old
American country singer known for It's Your Love and Just to See You Smile (1997), and Live Like You Were Dying (2004)
27 years old
American actress most famous as the young Selina Kyle/ Catwoman on Fox TV crime-drama series Gotham (2014–2019)
44 years old
Tanzanian Bongo flava musician whose famous hits include Uko Wapi (2003), Nawewe Milele, Niwe Nawe, Mahaba Ya Dhati
27 years old
American singer and actress in 2019 teen romantic film Tall Girl, her famous songs include Nonsense and Feather (2022)
80 years old
American singer whose famous hits include I Got You Babe (1965), Dark Lady (1973), and Believe (1998)
35 years old
Nigerian singer, songwriter, actress, winner of 3rd season of Project Fame West Africa; made a transition from secular to gospel music
Died aged 61
American actor who starred on Big Love (2006–2011), The Terminator (1984), Aliens (1986), True Lies (1994), Titanic (1997)
54 years old
American actress famous as Kim Wexler in legal crime series Better Call Saul (2015–2022), a prequel to Breaking Bad (2008–2013)
Famous May birthdays in Sports
Famous sportspeople born in May include Serbian tennis player Novak Djokovic, former Chelsea and Manchester United forward Romelu Lukaku, and former Manchester United players David Beckham, Yaya Touré and Diego Forlán.
Also in the famous birthdays list for May are Chelsea forward Cole Palmer, Brazilian former professional football player Dani Alves, basketball player Dennis Rodman, Liverpool legend Steven Gerrard, and Barcelona players Ousmane Dembélé and Andrés Iniesta.
Famous musicians born in May
The 5th month is the birth month of celebrity rappers YNW Melly, Meek Mill, Lauryn Hill, The Notorious B.I.G., and Busta Rhymes.
Famous singers Mary MacGregor, Adele, Tammy Wynette, James Brown (popularly referred to as The Godfather of Soul), Mel B of Spice Girls, South Korean singer Suho, and Believe singer Cher were also born in May.
Politicians with May birthdays
The list of May birthday celebrities also includes politicians Harry S. Truman (33rd president of the U.S.), Madeleine Albright (64th U.S. secretary of state), Hosni Mubarak (4th president of Egypt), Abdoulaye Wade (3rd president of Senegal), and Henry Kissinger (56th U.S. secretary of state).
Also in the May political birthdays list is former UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, senator Rick Santorum, New York mayor Rudy Giuliani, Idi Amin of Uganda, popular Kenyan politician Edwin Sifuna, former Ethiopian president Meles Zenawi, and former president of Tanzania, Ali Hassan Mwinyi.
Famous actors and actresses born in May
X-Men and Avengers: Doomsday actor Ian McKellen, who also stars as Gandalf in The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit trilogies was born on 25 May, 1939. Other May birthday actors include adult film actors Alexis Texas and Peter North.
Ving Rhames of Con Air, Cate Blanchett and Christopher Lee of The Lord of the Rings, and popular Indian actress Trisha Krishnan celebrate their big day in May.
Machete movies lead actor Danny Trejo, Rebel Without a Cause actor Dennis Hopper, and famous Western movies actor and director Clint Eastwood were born in May. And so are popular acting legends Joseph Cotten, Henry Fonda, Fred Astaire, Katharine Hepburn, Bill Paxton, and Orson Welles.
The list of famous May birthday celebrities wouldn’t be complete without British Superman actor Henry Cavill, and famous Nigerian actors Uche Montana and Onyii Alex.
May Historical Events
1st May 1707: The Act of Union was signed between England and Scotland. With the signing, the two countries become one kingdom, and the Scottish and English Parliaments became united, thereby forming the Parliament of Great Britain.This new joint house was based in the home of the English Parliament at the Palace of Westminster in London. Scotland retained its independence in terms of their legal and religious systems. However, taxation, coinage, trade, parliament, sovereignty and flag became one with Britain.
2nd May 2011: The US Navy SEALS of SEAL Team Six killed 54-year old Osama bin Laden in his compound in the city of Abbottabad, Pakistan. The leader of the Islamist militant group al-Qaeda was a mastermind of many notable terrorist attacks against the United States, including the attacks on the World Trade Center in New York City and the Pentagon on September 11, 2001.4th May 1494: Christopher Columbus, the famous European explorer, discovered Jamaica and met the Arawak and the Taino, the indigenous people of the Caribbean country. 10th May 1994: Nelson Mandela, the famous anti-apartheid activist and former political prisoner, became the first black president of South Africa. His inauguration on this date ended more than three centuries of minority white rule.His winning party, The African National Congress (ANC), won the country's 1st multi-racial elections by taking 62% of the vote. His presidency ended on 14 June, 1999.
21st May 1991: Former Indian Prime Minister and husband to Sonia Gandhi, Rajiv Gandhi, was assassinated at the age of 46. He had become the 6th and youngest Indian Prime minister at 40 years of age, and had succeeded his mother, the then-Prime Minister Indira Gandhi who was also assassinated. Rajiv Gandhi served as PM between 1984 and 1989.