Tell people that you were born on Christmas Day and they are apt to be impressed. So, they will say. You share a birthday with the greatest man who ever lived.

By that, they will mean either the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ or Jimmy Buffet.

For those whose birthday falls on Christmas, there’s both good and bad. The good? Why, half the world’s population observes the day of your birth. The bad? Cheapskates who swindle you by forking over one gift to cover both holidays. And try getting your best pals together to celebrate your birthday on the day of all days. Chances are good, they have commitments elsewhere.

“To be honest, I’ve struggled with the fact that my birthday is on Christmas,” says Julie Virgin, who was not only born on the Big Day, but her name even seems to fit with the history of the holiday. “I don’t really care much about the presents; what sucks is that I’ve never really had a party with my friends before.”

When we set out to track down people born on Christmas Day, a few surprising facts emerged. While plenty celebrate birthdays the days before or after the holiday, only a few can claim a bona fide Christmas birthday. It’s an elite club, all right, with members that include Isaac Newton, Humphrey Bogart, Sissy Spacek and Karl Rove.

I’ll let that sink in for a moment.

When I think about people born on or around Christmas, I picture large rooms full of people drinking egg nog and singing carols around the tree. Off in one corner, crying and alone, is a poor soul with a party hat and noisemaker wailing: “Pay attention to me, damn you! It’s my birthday, too!”

But most of those we talked to completely take it in stride. They might get weaseled out of gifts once in a while, but there’s a certain nobility about being born on this celebrated day, which also happens to be the most rare birth day of them all. Apart from Feb. 29, which only occurs every four years, fewer births are recorded on Dec. 25 than on any other day of the year, according to a recent Harvard study.

So, there’s that.

Even for the rest of us, who plopped into the world on more convenient dates, Christmas is a crazy time. There’s time pressure, financial pressure and all those strange family dynamics with which to contend. Plus, you’ve got to try to squeeze in holiday cheer, peace on earth and goodwill toward men, all to be wrapped with a pretty bow. By the time the big day rolls around, you just want to crawl under the tree and sleep until the new year.

Toss a birthday or two into that chaos? No thank you.

But these people do it every year and we applaud them. We’re not buying them anything this year, or even sending a card, but we appreciate their stories. Here they are.

Christy Fontaine, Bethel: Lessons from an uncle

My birthday is on the 23rd, and my parents were always amazing about never forgetting or postponing my party. My uncle’s birthday is the 22nd, and when my mom was a little girl she always saw my grandmother take a gift from under the tree to gift to him on his birthday. My mother told me she will always remember telling herself, “If I ever have a child next to Christmas, I will never do that!” and she has stuck to her word!

I remember having 8 to 10 friends over and ornaments falling off the tree. Or missing a special invite because they had to go to their relatives home to celebrate. My parents always went out of her way to wrap it in birthday wrapping paper, which was a nice touch! Although as a child, I remember some of my friends bringing me things wrapped in Christmas paper, or having to take it out from under their tree for me. Sometimes, it was also a used present. I look back now as an adult, and clearly understand why!

No one else is going to budget for some other kid’s birthday that close to Christmas! I always felt so guilty, and terrible for “taking” from others. Or, at least, that’s how I felt! I think that is why at my own children’s birthday parties, I ask for pet donations to bring to local shelters in lieu of gifts. It teaches selflessness, contributing and knowing we truly have everything we already need!

As an adult, it’s honestly just another day. I often squirrel my birthday money away until summer and buy something then, since the overload of the season is really too much for anyone to handle! I know everyone waits a whole year for their birthday to arrive, but having one this close to the end of the year, it seems like forever to have a special day for yourself!

Dawn Hartill, Lewiston: Bring on the nicer gifts!

My oldest son was born on 12/22/95, so we came home from the hospital on Christmas Eve. The nurses wrapped him in this stocking and brought him to me. Best Christmas present ever! Because his birthday is so close to Christmas, I think he makes out like a bandit. Family members overcompensate by buying more expensive gifts for him than for his brothers. They often say, “Well, it’s his birthday present too!”

Charity Lewis, Auburn: A special day every year

I was actually due Christmas Day but my mom said I was stubborn and didn’t wanna come out. I was born at 5:32 a.m. on the 26th, and from year to year have always celebrated Christmas and my birthday separate from the other. My parents always gave me some type of party. I am also privileged to share my day with my grandfather on my Dad’s side and my Aunt Laura. I may not have gotten a lot of gifts on my birthday, but I never had to share the day with Christmas. My parents kept my day just as special.

Michele Wacome Hutchins, Dixfield: Holiday hustle is all in the family

My youngest (twins) birthdays are the 17th, my mom’s and son-in-law’s is Christmas Day and my granddaughter’s the 26th. We do a lot of celebrating this time of the year!

I buy the birthday presents completely separate from my Christmas shopping. I just asked my twins if they ever felt gypped and both said no — apparently I’ve done a good job of not “borrowing” from the Christmas stash.

Birthday parties were a letdown when (the twins) were in grade school, as friends always had family holiday parties to attend. I’ve always made them their own cake, with the exception of last year, when I made my first twin cake. They were not happy. So it’ll be separate cakes again this year.

Growing up, my mom would tell us how she always felt gypped. She was the second of seven children, and money was tight, so often her presents were both birthday and Christmas. As adults, my brother, sister and I all make sure we celebrate her birthday with her, with a birthday cake on Christmas Day. With the addition of my son-in-law a few years ago, we do the same for him.

When my daughter went into labor Christmas day in 2006, she was adamant that her daughter have her own birthday. . . . Emilee was born at 1:12 a.m. on Dec 26. We celebrate her birthday separate from everyone else’s, but often friends cannot come since it’s during Christmas vacation. This past year she asked her mom for a summer party so she could invite her friends for a BBQ, so in June we had a 6 1/2 birthday party at Dummer’s in Weld.

To make things even more interesting, my middle daughter’s birthday is Jan. 18, the same day as my oldest son’s significent other’s. Last January,  the girlfirend asked if I could make a twin cake for her and my daughter for their 21st birthdays, which I did.

December (and after) is a busy, fun and expensive time for our family.

Jim Fedorko, summers in Rangeley: No problem for this birthday boy

I was born on Dec. 26th, 1956. Having a birthday a day after Christmas brings the inevitable “combined” Christmas/birthday gift. As a younger child it brought the added anticipation and the prospect that if you didn’t get what you wanted for Christmas there was always the next day. Of course there was always the possibility for double disappointment of not getting the wished-for gift on either day!

Buying birthday and Christmas gifts, no doubt, is that much more difficult. I know I’m not easy to buy for. My wife needs to figure out what to buy for two days at once, has to try and think back over the entire previous year and remember any dropped hints and has to wait another full year to try and fix mistakes or “get it right next time.” At least, that’s the pressure she puts on herself — I keep telling her that as long as she’s happy that’s all I need.

We all tend to remember the good times and forget the bad. While I don’t doubt there may have been a year or two (or three) where my birthday may have been overshadowed, I can’t remember any time when my family didn’t try and make sure that my birthday was recognized and made me feel like “the birthday boy.”

Once, in my late 20s, my little sister (and the rest of my family) threw me a surprise birthday party in July! That was indeed a surprise!

Julie Virgin, Portland: Dear Santa, bring her a giant party for Christmas

I was born on Christmas Day at 7:30 in the morning to my parents, Wayne and Jill Virgin. Yes, that’s right, my last name is Virgin. I feel that a Christmas birthday is special in itself (statistically, it’s the day of the year with the fewest number of births), however when your last name is Virgin, it brings it to a whole other level. While I do get the occasional strange look and a question about the messiah or antichrist, most people laugh, and I laugh too, and emphasize that my life is basically a big joke.

To be honest, I’ve struggled with the fact that my birthday is on Christmas. I don’t really care much about the presents, what sucks is that I’ve never really had a party with my friends before. When I was a kid we tried to do something on my half birthday, but I felt like a fraud. Everyone’s always undoubtedly busy.

Sara Grimes Wolf, Battle Ground, Wash.: Going with the flow

Sometimes I love having a birthday on Christmas Eve and sometimes I truly dislike it. As a kid, I never had a birthday party with my friends on my actual birthday. But I always had at least one set of grandparents around. My birthday presents were usually wrapped in Christmas paper (because it was handy) and under the tree. My birthday cake was usually Christmas themed.

When I first got married, my husband’s family celebrated their Christmas on Christmas Eve, so I had a LOT of people around. The first couple of years no one remembered my birthday because of all the other celebrating going on, but I think they finally got the hang of it because one year my husband’s aunt went to a lot of trouble to make me a fancy cake and round up the entire house (which was about 30 to 40 people) to sing to me. And they were awful singers.

I learned to go with the flow and not take it personally when people forget. Could have been worse. I could have been a leapling and born on Feb. 29!

Elise Jensen, South Paris: Thinking ahead (6 months)

On Christmas Day, my son will be 3, so he really hasn’t had much of a chance yet to notice being overlooked, but we have already taken precautionary measures against his feeling shortchanged. On Christmas day, he’ll still get a cake and probably a few cards from family, but the main celebrations are on June 25, when we have parties for his half-birthday and sing “Halfy Birthday to You!”

Christmas birthdays through the ages

1642: Isaac Newton, English physicist, mathematician, astronomer, philosopher and theologian

1757: Benjamin Pierce, American politician, 17th governor of New Hampshire

1821: Clara Barton, American nurse and humanitarian, founded the American Red Cross

1899: Humphrey Bogart, actor

1918: Anwar el-Sadat, Egyptian president

1929: Billy Horton, rocker

1945: Ken “The Snake” Stabler, NFL quarterback (Oak Raiders, Super Bowl XI)

1945: Noel Redding, rocker

1946: Jimmy Buffet, singer/songwriter and businessman

1946: Gene Lamont, American baseball player and manager

1949: Sissy Spacek, actress

1950: Karl Rove, former American presidential advisor

1954: Annie Lennox, singer

1955: Alannah Myles, Canadian singer

1958: Rickey Henderson, baseball player

1975: Hideki Okajima, Japanese baseball player

1975: Rob Mariano, American reality show contestant

Source: Wikipedia