No journeys
Starting a trip, especially a sea voyage, on Friday the 13th is said to invite disaster.
Calendar superstition
Friday the 13th superstitions
Friday the 13th: the unluckiest date in the calendar. First recorded: 1869 — a biography of Rossini, who died on a Friday the 13th. That makes it 157 years old — the 42nd oldest of the 45 superstitions we have dated.
- Earliest record
- 1869 see the history below
- Written down in
- 1867 Harland and Wilkinson, Lancashire
- US births on Friday 13th
- −6.4% vs Fridays the 6th and 20th, 2000–2014
Births: U.S. Social Security Administration 2000–2014 (FiveThirtyEight) — 25 Fridays the 13th averaged 11,950 births against 12,765 on Fridays the 6th and 20th. Record: John Harland and T. T. Wilkinson, Lancashire Folk-Lore (London: Frederick Warne, 1867).
When it actually starts
How old is this one
First recorded
1869 — a biography of Rossini, who died on a Friday the 13th
That makes it
157 years old
Rank by age
42nd oldest of 45 dated here
Category
Calendar
Fear of 13 is old and fear of Friday is old, but the combination is not. No source before the 19th century treats Friday the 13th as unlucky, and the date entered popular culture through a 1907 novel about a stockbroker who deliberately crashes the market on that day.
41 of the dated superstitions here were written down earlier and 3 later.
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Primary source
As it was written down in 1867
“In a large class of our population few would yet defy evil fate, by beginning a journey or any important undertaking, or marrying, on a Friday; on which day Lancashire, like other sailors, have a strong repugnance to beginning a voyage. This day of the week is regarded as of evil augury, because it was the day (Good Friday) when our Saviour’s blood was shed.”
“if thirteen sit down to dinner one of them will die before the end of the year…”
John Harland and T. T. Wilkinson, Lancashire Folk-Lore (London: Frederick Warne, 1867) — read the original text.
In 1867 Lancashire feared Fridays and thirteen at table — but as two separate superstitions. The first known mention of Friday the 13th as unlucky comes two years later, in 1869.
The versions people follow
What exactly is believed
No weddings or new jobs
Beginning anything important — a marriage, a job, a move — is considered unlucky on the date.
Tuesday the 13th
In Spanish- and Greek-speaking countries the unlucky day is Tuesday the 13th, not Friday.
Friday the 17th
In Italy 17 is the unlucky number, because its Roman numeral XVII rearranges to VIXI, "I have lived".
How the bad luck is traditionally undone
There is no traditional cure; people avoid the date, putting off trips, weddings and big decisions, and a few simply stay at home.
Where it lives today
Fear of the date has its own name, paraskevidekatriaphobia. Studies of accidents and hospital admissions on Friday the 13th have found no consistent rise.
Counted across 2000–2099
Every year has one. No year has more than three.
43 years
have 1 Friday the 13th — that is
43% of the century.
42 years
have 2 Friday the 13ths — that is
42% of the century.
15 years
have 3 Friday the 13ths — that is
15% of the century.
2026 has 3: February, March, November. The floor of one per year is forced by the calendar — any month starting on a Sunday puts the 13th on a Friday, and no arrangement of twelve months avoids that entirely.
There is a further oddity in the Gregorian calendar, which repeats on a 400-year cycle: across that cycle the 13th falls on a Friday slightly more often than on any other weekday. The most feared date is also the most common one.
What people say
The unluckiest date in the calendar.What is going on
Every year contains at least one and at most three. That is arithmetic, not fate: the 13th falls on every weekday across the calendar, and the pattern repeats on a 400-year cycle in which the 13th lands on Friday slightly more often than on any other day.Where it applies. In Spain and Greece the unlucky day is Tuesday the 13th; in Italy it is Friday the 17th.
Other calendar superstitions
Nearest in age
Friday the 13th is the 42nd oldest of the 45 dated superstitions here. Of those, 3 date from 1900 or later and 14 predate the common era.
First-recorded dates are the earliest documented appearance in written sources, not the earliest possible origin — an unrecorded practice can be older. How the dating works and where it is uncertain →
Sources
Statements of fact on this page were checked against these sources in October 2026. How we choose and check sources: editorial policy.
Cite this page
AstroHot. “Friday the 13th Superstitions: Origin and Meaning.” Accessed October 28, 2026. https://astrohot.com/superstitions/friday-the-13th/
For Wikipedia
{{cite web |title=Friday the 13th Superstitions: Origin and Meaning |url=https://astrohot.com/superstitions/friday-the-13th/ |website=AstroHot |access-date=2026-10-28}}