Thirteen at the table
Thirteen people at dinner means one will die within the year — echoing the Last Supper and Norse myth.
Numbers superstition
Number 13 superstitions
The number 13: an unlucky number; a thirteenth guest is dangerous. First recorded: 1867 — Lancashire Folk-Lore, where thirteen at dinner foretell a death; buildings skipping floor 13 from the early 1900s. That makes it 159 years old — joint 40th oldest of the 45 superstitions we have dated.
- Earliest record
- 1867 see the history below
- Written down in
- 1867 Harland and Wilkinson, Lancashire
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
1867 — Lancashire Folk-Lore, where thirteen at dinner foretell a death; buildings skipping floor 13 from the early 1900s
That makes it
159 years old
Rank by age
Joint 40th oldest of 45 dated here
Category
Numbers
Twelve is the number of completeness in many systems — months, hours, zodiac signs, apostles — so thirteen sits just past a closed set. The Norse story of Loki as the thirteenth guest and the Last Supper are both used as origins, and both were attached to the fear after it existed.
39 of the dated superstitions here were written down earlier and 4 later, while one shares its date.
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Primary source
As it was written down in 1867
“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.
The fear is older than Friday the 13th: in 1867 it was about thirteen people sitting down at one table.
The versions people follow
What exactly is believed
No thirteenth floor
Many tall buildings skip the 13th floor, going straight from 12 to 14.
A baker's dozen
Bakers gave thirteen for twelve to avoid penalties for short weight — one of the few lucky uses of the number.
Lucky in Italy and China
In Italy 13 can be lucky, and in Cantonese it sounds like "sure to live".
How the bad luck is traditionally undone
Parisian hosts once hired a "quatorzième", a professional fourteenth guest, to avoid thirteen at the table.
Where it lives today
Fear of the number is called triskaidekaphobia. Hotels, hospitals and airlines still skip room, bed and row numbers 13.
What people say
An unlucky number; a thirteenth guest is dangerous.What is going on
By an often-quoted Otis Elevator estimate, about 85% of buildings with its lifts have no floor numbered 13, which means the belief has physically reshaped cities. The floor exists — it is simply labeled 14.Where it applies. In Italy 17 is the unlucky number, in China and Japan it is 4, because the word sounds like "death". Thirteen is unremarkable there.
Nearest in age
The number 13 is joint 40th 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. “Number 13 Superstitions: Origin, Meaning and When It Began.” Accessed October 28, 2026. https://astrohot.com/superstitions/number-13/
For Wikipedia
{{cite web |title=Number 13 Superstitions: Origin, Meaning and When It Began |url=https://astrohot.com/superstitions/number-13/ |website=AstroHot |access-date=2026-10-28}}