Mothers Day 2027 is Sunday, May 9: dates, history and ideas

The short answer: mothers day 2027 is Sunday, May 9, 2027. In the United States, it falls on the second Sunday in May.

• 2026: May 10
• 2028: May 14
• History: how Anna Jarvis created the holiday
• Budget-friendly ideas like brunch at home and letters
• Next step: Plan it with the Family Recipe Binder ($6.99).

Mothers Day 2027 is Sunday, May 9, 2027. In the United States, Mother's Day falls on the second Sunday in May, so the date moves a little each year. Below are the dates through 2030, the story of how Anna Jarvis created the holiday, and simple, budget-friendly ideas to make the day feel special.

For her birthday rather than Mother's Day, these happy birthday wishes for Mom offer short, heartfelt and gentle wording you can personalize.

Mother's Day dates, 2026 to 2030

The second Sunday in May always falls between May 8 and May 14. In 2027 it's May 9, close to the earliest possible date. In 2028 it's May 14, the latest.

How Mother's Day started

The Britannica entry on Mother's Day and the U.S. Census Bureau Mother's Day feature tell the same story of one daughter's campaign:

• 1868: Ann Jarvis, who organized women's groups to promote friendship and health, reportedly organized a Mothers' Friendship Day to bring Union and Confederate veterans and their families together after the Civil War.
• 1876: her 12-year-old daughter, Anna, heard her pray that someone would one day found a memorial day for mothers.
• 1905: Ann Jarvis died. Anna began a letter-writing and public-speaking campaign for a Mother's Day on the second Sunday of May, the day her mother died.
• May 10, 1908: the first Mother's Day observances were held in Grafton, West Virginia, at her late mother's church, and in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
• Within five years: Britannica says virtually every state was observing the day.
• 1914: Congress designated the second Sunday in May as Mother's Day, and President Woodrow Wilson made it a national holiday.

Britannica adds that Jarvis later strongly condemned how commercial the day had become and spent her last years trying to undo the holiday she had created.

Why the apostrophe sits where it does

Jarvis thought of Mother's Day as a "personal day," Britannica explains, so the name is singular. It isn't a day for mothers in general so much as a day for each family to honor its own mother. Over time the day widened to include grandmothers, aunts and others who play a mothering role.

Carnations and other traditions

Jarvis promoted the white carnation, her mother's favorite flower. A custom grew of wearing a red or pink carnation for a living mother and a white one for a mother who had died, and the carnation is still the holiday's official flower.

Early celebrations included family dinners and religious services, and both are still common. Britannica says more than 100 million Mother's Day cards are bought each year in the United States, and flowers are the most popular gift.

Mother's Day around the world

Not every country celebrates on the same day. Britannica notes that many, including the United States, Canada, Australia, Japan and India, use the second Sunday in May. Others use a fixed date or another month. In Britain, Mothering Sunday grew out of a medieval custom of visiting your home parish, and your mother, on Laetare Sunday, the fourth Sunday of Lent, which is why it falls in March. If family lives abroad, check their date so your call or card arrives on the right day.

Planning Mothers Day 2027

Sunday, May 9, 2027, comes at a busy time of year: end-of-school events, spring sports and, for many families, graduation season. A little planning in April keeps it from becoming a last-minute scramble:

Budget-friendly Mother's Day ideas

The most remembered gifts are often the least expensive. A few that cost little:

• Breakfast or brunch at home. Pancakes, eggs, fruit and coffee, made and served by the family.
• A family recipe book. Collect her favorite recipes, or grandma's, in one place. The Family Recipe Binder ($6.99) has recipe pages and section dividers ready to fill in.
• Letters from everyone. Each person writes what they love about her. Keep them in a folder she can reread.
• A week off from chores. Hand her a chore chart with everyone else's names on it. The Kids Chore Chart ($3.49) makes the kids' share clear.
• Time together. A walk, a picnic, a movie at home or a visit to a garden.
• A photo project. Print favorite photos from the year and put them in a simple album or frame.

A Mother's Day brunch menu

A short menu that most families can make together:

Plan the menu and shopping list in one sitting with the Meal Planner & Grocery List ($3.99), which has a weekly planner, grocery list and pantry pages. Shop on Saturday so Sunday is just cooking.

Keep family records and recipes together

Mother's Day is a good reminder to gather the family details that usually live in one person's head: recipes, kids' schedules, chores and appointments. The Family Life Admin Bundle ($15.99) includes a baby tracker, kids' chore charts, pet health records, a meal planner and the Family Recipe Binder in one set, so the whole family can share the load.

Is Mother's Day a day off?

Not officially. Mother's Day isn't on the Office of Personnel Management federal holiday list, the list of eleven federal holidays, so there's no observed weekday and no federal closure. Because it's always a Sunday, schools are already out and most offices are closed anyway. Restaurants, florists and card shops tend to be busiest that weekend, which is one more reason to plan early or celebrate at home.

Celebrating more than one mom

Many families have more than one person to honor: a mother, a mother-in-law, grandmothers, a stepmother, an aunt who helped raise you. A few ways to keep the day calm:

• Split the weekend. Brunch with one family on Saturday, May 8, and dinner with the other on Sunday, May 9.
• Host one gathering. Invite everyone for a single potluck brunch, and ask each family to bring a dish.
• Call or video chat with those who live far away, and mail cards a week ahead.
• Set a gift budget per person so the total doesn't creep up.

When Mother's Day is hard

For some people, the day brings grief or mixed feelings: a mother who has died, a strained relationship, a loss, or the hope of becoming a mother. Britannica's note about white carnations is a reminder that remembering a mother has always been part of the day. If that's you, it's fine to keep the day small. Visit a favorite place, cook her recipe, look through photos, or spend time with people who understand. If someone close to you is in that spot, a short note saying you're thinking of them can mean a lot.

Give her a lighter week, not just a day

One of the most useful gifts is taking things off her plate for good. Over Mother's Day weekend, sit down as a family and share out the jobs that usually fall to one person:

1. Meals: plan a week of dinners together and post the plan on the fridge.
2. Groceries: keep one shared list so anyone can shop.
3. Chores: give each child age-appropriate jobs on a chart.
4. Calendar: put appointments, practices and school events where everyone can see them.
5. Recipes: write down the family favorites so others can cook them too.

Write the plan down and check in a month later, in early June, before Father's Day.

Father's Day 2027 comes six weeks later

Father's Day 2027 is Sunday, June 20. Britannica says the first Father's Day was held on June 19, 1910, in Spokane, Washington, thanks to Sonora Smart Dodd, who had the idea while listening to a Mother's Day sermon. It became a national holiday in 1972, when President Richard Nixon signed a law setting it on the third Sunday of June. If you plan both days at once, you can spread the cost across two months. Our free June 2027 calendar has Father's Day marked.

Mothers Day 2027 at a glance

• Date: Sunday, May 9, 2027.
• Rule: the second Sunday in May (U.S.).
• Founder: Anna Jarvis; first observances May 10, 1908.
• National since: 1914.
• Official flower: the carnation.
• Next year: Sunday, May 14, 2028.
• Father's Day 2027: Sunday, June 20.

Find every holiday of the year on our holiday calendar or print the 2027 calendar.

Planning ahead for June? See when Father's Day is in 2027 and through 2030, plus the history behind the holiday.