Happy Birthday in Spanish

Happy birthday! ¡Feliz cumpleaños! ¡Felicidades en tu día! There are many way to say happy birthday in Spanish, depending on the country you are in or the sentiment you want to express. Here are a few of the most popular phrases and birthday songs to help you learn how to say happy birthday in Spanish.

Phrases to wish someone happy birthday in Spanish:

Here you can find some popular phrases to say happy birthday in Spanish.

  • ¡Feliz cumpleaños! Happy birthday
  • ¡Felicidades en tu dia! Congratulations on your day!
  • ¡Feliz dia! ¡Que se cumplan todos tus deseos! Happy day! I hope all your wishes come true.
  • ¡Te deseo un día muy especial! I wish you a very special day!
  • ¡Que cumplas muchos más! That you have many more!
  • ¡Que dios te bendiga en tu día especial! That God blesses you on your special day!
  • ¡Muchas felicidades! Many congratulations!
How to Say Happy Birthday in Spanish

Happy birthday songs in Spanish:

Not only are there a variety of words and phrases to wish someone a happy birthday in Spanish, there are also several different versions of the birthday song to sing to the cumplea ñero/a (birthday boy or girl).

Each Spanish speaking country has their own slightly different version of the happy birthday song. Here are a few examples of Happy Birthday Songs in Spanish.

Cumpleaños Feliz

In Chile, Spain, and Colombia your birthday song may sound something like this:

Cumpleaños feliz te deseamos a ti, cumpleaños (name), cumpleaños feliz.

A happy birthday we wish you, birthday (name), happy birthday.

Que los cumplas feliz

In Argentia, your happy birthday song would have a slightly different tune:

Que los cumplas feliz, que los cumplas feliz, que los cumplas (name), que los cumplas feliz.
 Happy birthday, happy birthday, happy birthday (name), happy birthday.

In Colombia and Peru, they sometimes put a funny twist to the ending of the song:

Cumpleaños feliz te deseamos a ti, cumpleaños (name) cumpleaños feliz. Que los cumpla feliz, que los vuelva a cumplir, que los siga cumpliendo, hasta el año 3000.

We wish you a happy birthday, happy birthday (name) happy birthday. Happy birthday, that you have another birthday and keep having them until the year 3000.

However, if you are in Mexico, you would likely hear las mañanitas (explanation below) or a version of the happy birthday song that goes like this:

Feliz cumpleaños a ti, feliz cumpleaños a ti, feliz cumpleaños querido/a (name), feliz cumpleaños a ti.
Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you, happy birthday dear (name), happy birthday to you.

Las mañanitas

This song is traditional Mexican song, although it is sung in other countries as well. Las mañanitas is generally sung early in the morning by a mariachi, or your family and friends, outside your window. Yes my friends, serenades still exist.  However, the song is also not reserved just for birthdays. You will hear las mañanitas sung on Mother's Day and other important holidays as well.

What are the lyrics for las ma ñanitas?

Estas son las mañanitas, que cantaba el Rey David a las muchachos(as) bonitos se las cantaba así. Despierta, (nombre del cumpleañero), despierta. ¡Mira, ya amaneció! Ya los pajarillos cantan, la luna ya se metió.

This is the birthday song that King David sang. Because today is your saints day, we're singing it for you. Wake up, (name), wake up, look its already dawn. The birds are singing, and the moon has gone down.

This is just the first verse and often where the song ends. However, there are many verses you could add on if you want to extend your birthday boy or girl's serenade for some extra fun.

What does your saint's day mean?

In many Spanish speaking countries, the Catholic religion forms a large part of the cultural tradition. Within the Catholic calendar, each saint has a day. When a child was born, parents would pick the name based on the closest saints day for that child's gender. Now most parents follow the tradition a little more loosely.  They will pick a name for their child that the like regardless of when they were born. If they don't choose a saint's name for the chid's first or middle name, the child can choose a patron saint.

Therefore, some children celebrate their birthday and their Saint's day. For example, if my name is Catherine and I was born on March 19th, I would celebrate my birthday on March 19th and then I would celebrate my saint day on April 29th to celebrate St. Catherine's of Siena.

The song las mañanitas was originally used to celebrate your saints day. However, now that less people celebrate their saint's day and focus more on their birthday, it is often used interchangeably.

Feliz en tu día

Feliz en tu dia is a slower song geared more toward children that was made popular by artists like Celia Cruz and Miliki.

Feliz, feliz en tu dia, amiguito que Dios te bendiga. Que reine la paz en tu vida y que cumplas muchos mas.

Happy, happy birthday to you friend that God blesses you. The peace reigns in your life and that you have many more birthdays!

Now you know how to say Happy Birthday in Spanish!

Thanks to the variety in the Spanish language, there are a many different Spanish happy birthday songs, and ways that you can wish and sing happy birthday to your loved ones in Spanish. Enjoy adding a little Spanish to your next birthday celebration!

Know another way to say Happy Birthday in Spanish? How do you sing with your loved ones on their birthday? Let us know!

How to Say Happy Birthday with Songs in Spanish

Author: Vanessa Ruiz is a language lover with a BA in Spanish and English as a Second Language. When she isn't working to support immigrant families raising bilingual children, you will find Vanessa blogging at Families Embracing Diversity  or playing with her own bilingual child.