Template:Death year and age/doc

This template tracks the Wikidata property:

• date of death (P570) (see uses)

This template tracks the Wikidata property:

• date of birth (P569) (see uses)

This template uses Lua: Module:Check for unknown parameters (sandbox)

This template is used on approximately 17,000 pages and changes may be widely noticed. Test changes in the template's /sandbox or /testcases subpages, or in your own user subpage. Consider discussing changes on the talk page before implementing them. Preview message: Transclusion count updated automatically (see documentation).

This is a documentation subpage for Template:Death year and age. It may contain usage information, categories and other content that is not part of the original template page.

The templates {{Birth year and age}} and {{Death year and age}} return a person's year of birth or death and their approximate age. The templates are useful when only the year, or year and month, of a person's birth and/or death are known, or if it is desired not to state a person's full dates of birth and death for privacy reasons.

Such an approximation differs from the approximation generated by {{Birth based on age as of date}}; the latter can be used when the only detail available about someone's birth is a reference that establishes their age as of a certain date (such as the date that the reference was published).

The person's age is estimated as follows:

Let us assume:

1. that the person in question was born some time in 1969; and
2. that the present date is 27 November 2024.

• If the person was born after 27 November 1969 then they will be 54 years old on 27 November 2024 as they have not had their 55th birthday yet. On the other hand, if they were born exactly on or before 27 November 1969, then they will be 55 years old.

  Therefore, the template {{Birth year and age|1969}}

  displays their birth year and age as: 1969 (age 54–55)

• Optionally, if we know the person's birth month but not the day, we can also have the template display the month.

  Let us assume that the person was born in June 1969. Therefore:

  • If it is presently January 2024, then this year the person has not had their birthday yet. Therefore, the template {{Birth year and age|1969|6}} displays their birth year and age as: 1969 (age 54).
  • If it is presently June 2024, we do not know whether the person has had their birthday this year yet since their day of birth is unknown. Therefore, the template displays their birth year and age as: 1969 (age 54–55).
  • If it is presently December 2024, then this year the person has already had their birthday. Therefore, the template displays their birth year and age as: 1969 (age 55).

Let us assume:

1. that the person in question was born some time in 1973; and
2. that they died some time in 2023.

• We can posit as two extremes: (1) that the person was born on 31 December 1973 and died on 1 January 2023, in which case they would have been 49 years old at the time of their death as they did not achieve their 50th birthday on 31 December 2023; and (2) that they were born on 1 January 1973 and died on 31 December 2023, in which case they would have been 50 years old at the time of their death as they had their 50th birthday on 1 January 2023.

Therefore, the template {{Death year and age|2023|1973}}

renders their death year and age as: 2023 (aged 49–50)

• Optionally, if we know the month of the person's death but not the day, we can also have the template display the month.

Using the above examples and assuming the month is 11 (November)

Therefore, the template {{Death year and age|2023|1973|11}}

displays their death year and age as: November 2023 (aged 49–50)

If you wish to set out the full dates of birth and/or death of a person and thus to calculate their age accurately, please use the templates {{Birth date and age}} and {{Death date and age}}.

{{Birth year and age|year of birth}}
{{Birth year and age|year of birth|optional number of month of birth}}
{{Death year and age|year of death|year of birth}}
{{Death year and age|year of death|year of birth|optional number of month of death}}

• {{Birth year and age|1969}} → 1969 (age 54–55)

  1969 (age 54–55)

• {{Birth year and age|1969|10}} → October 1969 (age 55)

  October 1969 (age 55)

• {{Birth year and age|1969|12}} → December 1969 (age 54)

  December 1969 (age 54)

• {{Death year and age|2023|1973}} → 2023 (aged 49–50)

  2023 (aged 49–50)

• {{Death year and age|2023|1973|11}} → November 2023 (aged 49–50)

  November 2023 (aged 49–50)