co-latha breith sona
The English phrase "happy birthday" is co-latha breith sona in Gaelic.
This phrase is used to offer good wishes for someone's birthday.
Meaning: good wishes for a birthday (intj)
Which one should you use?
You may also use Latha breith sona agad! to say "Happy Birthday to you!" or Gach beannachd air an latha breith agad! to say "Every blessing on your birthday!" in more formal settings.
Did you know?
- In traditional Gaelic culture, it was once more common to celebrate a person's 'name day', the feast day of the saint they were named after, than the actual date of their birth.
- The word breith in 'happy birthday' shares a root with the word for 'judgment'. In Old Irish, the same term was used both for bringing a child forth and for delivering a legal verdict.
- The structure of Latha breith sona agad! uses the word agad, which literally indicates that the birthday is 'at you'.
Example sentences for Gaelic are not verified yet.
Example conversation
Eilidh gives a gift to Angus.
- EilidhCo-latha breith sona, a Angus!Happy birthday, Angus!
- AngusTapadh leat, a Eilidh!Thank you, Eilidh!
- EilidhAn toil leat an t-uallach?Do you like the present?
- AngusIs toil leam e gu mòr!I like it very much!
Sources
- Wiktionary, “happy birthday” translations and entries co-latha breith sona, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
- Word origins: Wiktionary entries breith, sona, CC BY-SA 4.0.
