New data reveals the personality types Brits are choosing when celebrating birthdays, with screen stars, style icons and fabulous personalities leading the way
Brits are embracing ‘main character energy’ when it comes to birthdays, with new data revealing that film and TV-inspired personalities are the nation’s top choice for personalised birthday designs.
Analysis of more than 25,000 birthday purchases by personalised birthday card company Lookalikey.com found that one in four birthday choices are inspired by film and TV personalities, making screen stars and iconic movie moments the UK’s most popular birthday personality type.
The data shows that 25.3% of all birthday purchases feature a famous film character, TV personality or scene inspired by classic screen moments, suggesting Brits are choosing bold, recognisable and larger-than-life personalities when celebrating friends and family.
And when it comes to the UK’s favourite screen-inspired moment, one theme clearly takes centre stage. Dirty Dancing-inspired designs make up 5% of all birthday purchases, proving that nobody puts birthdays in the corner.
The findings suggest that Brits are not just looking for something funny or traditional when celebrating birthdays. Instead, they are choosing designs that make loved ones feel like the star of the show, whether that means a cinematic hero, a fabulous fashion icon, a sports star or a comedy character.
According to Lookalikey.com analysed birthday purchase data, the top five national personality themes are:
The main character
Film & TV-inspired personalities are the UK’s top choice, accounting for 25.3% of birthday purchases.
The history maker
Historic and period-inspired personalities were the second most popular theme, showing Brits still love a dramatic, old-school or regal transformation.
The style icon
Fashion, cover-star and style-led designs ranked third, suggesting many birthday shoppers want to celebrate loved ones as glamorous, fabulous or iconic.
The sports star
Sports-inspired personalities also made the top five, with Brits choosing everything from footballers to fighter pilots and action-led characters.
The joker
Funny personalities remain a major birthday staple, proving humour is still one of the most popular ways to celebrate someone’s big day.
Funny or fabulous?
While humour is still a major part of birthday celebrations, the data suggests Brits are now slightly more likely to choose something fabulous than purely funny.
Lookalikey.com sales data discovered that that aspirational and fabulous personalised birthday card designs account for 33.7% of purchases. This is compared with 31.5% for funny birthday card designs.
This means that, while jokes still matter, Brits are increasingly choosing birthday personalities that make people feel glamorous, iconic or larger than life.
Why birthday personalities are changing
Spencer Herron, co-founder of Lookalikey.com, said: “Birthdays have always been about making someone feel special; our data shows just how much personality now goes into the choices people make.
“People are not just choosing a standard birthday message.
“What really stood out to us was the popularity of Film & TV-inspired designs. It shows that people love the idea of making someone the star of their own birthday moment. There is something instantly joyful about seeing someone you know transformed into a famous scene, character or personality.”
Thomas Herron, co-founder of Lookalikey.com, added: “Humour is still hugely important, but the fact that fabulous and aspirational designs slightly beat funny ones is really interesting.
“It suggests people want birthday designs that do more than make someone laugh. They want to make them feel seen, celebrated and larger than life.”
