Feliz Cumpleaños — Birthday Wishes in Spanish
Feliz cumpleaños covers the basics, but Spanish has a much warmer range available than most English speakers use — and the difference between writing to a friend and writing to a grandmother is significant. Each of the ten below comes with an English translation and a note on who it suits.
10 Spanish Birthday Wishes
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¡Feliz cumpleaños! Que este año te traiga todo lo que has estado esperando.
Happy birthday — may this year bring you everything you've been waiting for. (Works for anyone.) -
Muchas felicidades en tu día. Te deseo salud, amor y mucha paz.
Many congratulations on your day. Wishing you health, love and plenty of peace. (Warm, slightly formal.) -
¡Feliz cumple! Que lo pases increíble y que no te falte el pastel.
Happy birthday! Have an amazing one, and don't run short of cake. (Casual — friends and siblings.) -
Felicidades por otro año de vida. Que sea el mejor hasta ahora.
Congratulations on another year of life. May it be the best one yet. (All-purpose.) -
¡Feliz cumpleaños! Gracias por estar siempre, en lo bueno y en lo difícil.
Happy birthday. Thank you for always being there, in the good times and the hard ones. (Close friends.) -
Feliz cumpleaños, mamá. Todo lo que soy te lo debo a ti.
Happy birthday, Mum. Everything I am, I owe to you. (Parents.) -
Que Dios te bendiga hoy y siempre. ¡Feliz cumpleaños!
May God bless you today and always. Happy birthday. (Religious, common across Latin America.) -
¡Feliz cumpleaños, mi amor! Cada año contigo es mejor que el anterior.
Happy birthday, my love. Every year with you is better than the last. (Partners.) -
Un año más y sigues siendo la mejor compañía. Feliz cumpleaños.
Another year and you're still the best company. Happy birthday. (Friends, partners.) -
¡Felicidades! Disfruta tu día como te merecés.
Congratulations! Enjoy your day the way you deserve to. (Note the Río de la Plata form merecés — use mereces elsewhere.)
Tú, Usted and Regional Notes
Tú for friends, siblings, children and anyone your own age. Usted for grandparents, in-laws, bosses and older people you're not close to, particularly in Colombia, Costa Rica and much of the Andean region, where usted is used more widely than in Spain or Mexico. Vos replaces tú in Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay and much of Central America, which changes the verb ending as in number 10.
Vocabulary shifts too: pastel for cake in Mexico, torta in Argentina, Chile and much of South America, tarta in Spain. Feliz cumple is a common affectionate shortening everywhere and is fine in writing to friends. And in Spain and Mexico you'll often hear ¡Que cumplas muchos más! — may you have many more.
Related collections
Questions
Is felicidades the same as feliz cumpleaños?
Nearly. Felicidades is a general congratulations used for birthdays, weddings and achievements alike; feliz cumpleaños is birthday-specific.
What do I write to a grandmother?
Number 2 or 7, switched to usted — le deseo salud rather than te deseo salud.