How to Say Happy Birthday in Spanish (Pronunciation Guide)

So you need to wish someone a happy birthday in Spanish? Whether you're learning the language, writing a card for a Spanish-speaking friend, or just want to add some flair to your birthday wishes, I've got you covered. The basic phrase is "feliz cumpleaños," but there's actually a lot more to birthday greetings in Spanish than just that one expression. Let me walk you through everything from pronunciation to regional variations, birthday songs, and personalized messages you can use for different situations.

The basic translation: Feliz cumpleaños

The most common way to say happy birthday in Spanish is "feliz cumpleaños." You'll hear this phrase across pretty much every Spanish-speaking country, from Mexico to Spain to Argentina. It's the standard greeting you'd write in a birthday card, post on social media, or say when you see someone on their special day.

Here's how to pronounce it: feh-LEES koom-pleh-AHN-yos. The stress falls on the "LEES" in feliz and the "AHN" in cumpleaños. If you break it down, "feliz" means happy or joyful, and "cumpleaños" literally translates to "years fulfilled" or "years completed." Pretty cool how that works, right?

One question I see all the time: Is it "feliz cumpleaños" or "feliz cumpleaño"? The correct version is definitely "feliz cumpleaños" with the ñ and the s at the end. The word cumpleaños is always plural in Spanish, even when talking about one birthday. You'd never say "feliz cumpleaño" because that's grammatically incorrect.

Other ways to wish someone a happy birthday

While feliz cumpleaños is the go-to phrase, Spanish speakers use several other expressions to celebrate birthdays. Here are some common alternatives:

"Felicidades" works perfectly on its own. It means congratulations, but Spanish speakers use it for birthdays all the time. You can also combine it: "felicidades en tu día" (congratulations on your day).

"Feliz día" is another short option that means happy day. Some people extend this to "feliz día de cumpleaños" (happy birthday day), though that's a bit more formal.

"Que cumplas muchos más" is a lovely saying that translates to "may you have many more." You'd typically say this after the main feliz cumpleaños greeting. It's similar to saying "many happy returns" in English.

For belated wishes, you'd say "feliz cumpleaños atrasado" or "feliz cumpleaños tardío." Both work fine when you've missed the actual date.

How Mexican people say happy birthday

The phrase feliz cumpleaños works throughout Mexico, but Mexican birthday celebrations have their own special traditions. The most distinctive is singing "Las Mañanitas," a traditional Mexican birthday song that's way more popular than the standard happy birthday song in many parts of the country.

Las Mañanitas gets sung early in the morning, often to wake up the birthday person. The lyrics go: "Estas son las mañanitas que cantaba el rey David, hoy por ser día de tu santo te las cantamos a ti." This translates to something like "These are the morning songs that King David used to sing, today being your saint's day we sing them to you."

Mexican celebrations also include the famous birthday tradition of pushing someone's face into their cake (la mordida) while everyone chants "mordida, mordida, mordida!" This happens right after singing, when the birthday person takes their first bite.

The Spanish birthday song

You can absolutely sing happy birthday in Spanish. The most common version uses the same melody as the English happy birthday song, but with Spanish lyrics. It goes like this:

Cumpleaños feliz Cumpleaños feliz Te deseamos todos Cumpleaños feliz

Notice how the word order flips compared to English. Instead of "feliz cumpleaños," the song says "cumpleaños feliz." This happens because Spanish lyrics need to fit the melody, and putting cumpleaños first works better rhythmically.

Some versions replace the third line with the person's name: "Cumpleaños feliz, cumpleaños feliz, cumpleaños querido name, cumpleaños feliz." The word "querido" means dear or beloved.

You can find tons of versions on YouTube if you want to hear the pronunciation and melody. Just search for "cumpleaños feliz canción" and you'll get plenty of examples from different Spanish-speaking countries.

Formal vs. informal birthday wishes

Spanish has formal and informal ways of addressing people, which affects how you phrase birthday greetings. The difference comes down to whether you use "tú" (informal you) or "usted" (formal you).

For friends, family, and people your age, stick with informal phrases:

For bosses, elderly relatives you're not close with, or people you want to show respect, use formal language:

The key difference is "tu" vs. "su" for possessive words, and verb conjugations change too. "Tengas" becomes "tenga," "pases" becomes "pase," and so on.

Personalized birthday messages for different relationships

Here's where you can get creative with your birthday wishes. Spanish speakers love adding personal touches to their greetings.

For close friends:

For family members:

For romantic partners:

The phrase "que cumplas muchos más" works great at the end of any of these messages.

Birthday vocabulary you should know

Learning some birthday-related vocabulary helps you understand and participate in Spanish birthday celebrations:

When you're at a party and everyone's about to sing, someone might say "vamos a cantar cumpleaños feliz" (let's sing happy birthday). After blowing out the candles, you'd hear "pide un deseo" (make a wish).

Writing birthday cards in Spanish

Birthday cards in Spanish follow similar patterns to English ones, but with some cultural differences. Here's a basic structure:

Start with the greeting: "Querido name" (Dear name) or just the person's name.

Add your main message with feliz cumpleaños or felicidades.

Include a personal note about the person or your wishes for them.

End with a closing like "con cariño" (with affection), "un abrazo" (a hug), or "besos" (kisses).

Example card: "Querida Ana, Feliz cumpleaños! Espero que este nuevo año de vida te traiga mucha alegría y éxitos. Gracias por ser una amiga tan especial. Que cumplas muchos más, Con cariño, Your name"

This translates to: "Dear Ana, Happy birthday! I hope this new year of life brings you much joy and success. Thanks for being such a special friend. May you have many more, With affection, Your name."

Toast phrases for birthday celebrations

If you're raising a glass at a birthday party, you'll want to know these celebratory phrases:

"Salud" is the basic toast, meaning health. You'll hear this at pretty much any celebration.

"Por muchos años más" means "to many more years" and works perfectly for birthdays.

"Brindemos por name" translates to "let's toast to name."

A longer toast might go: "Brindemos por name, que cumpla muchos años más lleno de salud y felicidad" (Let's toast to name, may they have many more years full of health and happiness).

Regional differences across Spanish-speaking countries

While feliz cumpleaños works everywhere, different countries have their own birthday traditions and sayings. In Spain, people might say "muchas felicidades" more often than in Latin America. The birthday song in some regions includes different lyrics or entirely different melodies.

Argentina and Uruguay sometimes use "feliz cumple" as a shortened, casual version. In some Caribbean countries, you'll hear more elaborate songs and chants during the cake cutting.

The word for cake changes by country: "torta" in Argentina, Chile, and Uruguay; "pastel" in Mexico and Central America; "tarta" in Spain; "ponqué" in Colombia. Knowing these regional differences helps you sound more natural when speaking with people from specific countries.

Pronunciation tips

Getting the pronunciation right makes your birthday wishes sound way more genuine. Here are the tricky sounds:

The "ñ" in cumpleaños sounds like the "ny" in canyon. Your tongue should touch the roof of your mouth.

The double "l" in "feliz" is just pronounced as "l" in most Spanish dialects, though in Spain you might hear it with a "th" sound.

The "z" in feliz sounds like an "s" in Latin America, but like a "th" in Spain (like the "th" in think).

Roll the "r" in "cumpleaños" if you can, but don't stress if you can't. Most native speakers will understand you either way.

The emphasis matters: feh-LEES koom-pleh-AHN-yos. Practice saying it slowly, then speed up once you've got the rhythm down.

Happy birthday GIFs and social media

Looking for a happy birthday in Spanish GIF? Search for "feliz cumpleaños gif" and you'll find thousands of animated images with the phrase. These are super popular on WhatsApp, which is the main messaging app in most Spanish-speaking countries.

Social media posts typically use hashtags like #FelizCumpleaños, #Cumpleaños, or #Felicidades. You might also see creative variations like #FelizCumple or #HappyBirthday mixed with Spanish text.

A typical social media post might look like: "Feliz cumpleaños a mi mejor amiga! Que este nuevo año te traiga todo lo que deseas 🎂🎉 #FelizCumpleaños #Amistad"

Actually using Spanish in real situations

Here's the thing about learning phrases like feliz cumpleaños: they're useful, but they work best when you understand the language around them. If someone responds to your birthday wishes in Spanish and you can't follow the conversation, you've hit a wall pretty quickly.

That's where immersion learning comes in. Watching Spanish shows, reading Spanish content, and picking up vocabulary in context helps you move beyond memorized phrases. You start recognizing how people actually use these expressions in real conversations, not just textbook examples.

Anyway, if you want to level up your Spanish beyond birthday greetings, Migaku's browser extension lets you look up Spanish words instantly while watching shows or reading articles. You can create flashcards from real content you're interested in, which beats memorizing random vocabulary lists any day. There's a 10-day free trial if you want to check it out.