About 5.54 million Chinese share the same birthday on New Year's Day and 5,659 were named after it, according to China's Ministry of Public Security.

And 1,735 citizens were not only named after Yuan Dan, or New Year's Day in Chinese, but also born on the day, Monday's Beijing Evening News quoted the ministry's department in charge of citizen identity.

Meanwhile, 618 Chinese share the family name "Yuan" and were named "Dan," the ministry said.

The word "Yuan Dan" has been used by Chinese for more than 4,000 years but it used to refer to the first day of Chinese lunar year. In 1949, the Chinese government first officially announced that Jan. 1, the first day on the Gregorian calendar, is Yuan Dan.

(Xinhua News Agency January 1, 2008)