The entire world celebrates moms. However, not everyone does it at the same time. Depending on what country you’re from, you might celebrate it on an entirely different day than folks from other places around the globe. There are usually significant cultural reasons for this.
For instance, some countries tie Mother’s Day celebrations to International Women’s Day (March 8), while others celebrate it during Lent. However, a huge swathe of nations celebrate it on the second Sunday of May.
There’s often that moment of confusion, followed by a chill going down your spine, when you read a headline about someone celebrating Mother’s Day, and you wonder if you somehow missed it this year. But you then realize that you’ve either already congratulated your mom this year, or the date is still coming up for people from your country.
If you live in the United States, then you celebrate Mother’s Day on the second Sunday in May, along with a huge chunk of the world. This means that if you are American, every Mother’s Day celebration will fall on a date from May 8 to May 14.
This year, in 2026, the celebration occurred on May 10.
In the US, Mother’s Day only began in 1907, thanks to Anne Jarvis, who held the very first Mother’s Day service at Andrew’s Methodist Episcopal Church in Grafton, West Virginia.
Jarvis started campaigning to make Mother’s Day a recognized holiday back in 1905, when her own mother, a peace activist, passed away.
In 1908, the US Congress had a proposal to make Mother’s Day an official holiday, and by 1911, nearly every state recognized the occasion.
Alongside the US, many other countries celebrate Mother’s Day on the second Sunday of May, including India, China, Pakistan, Brazil, Bangladesh, Ethiopia, Japan, the Philippines, Vietnam, Turkey, Germany, South Africa, Italy, Kenya, Tanzania, Myanmar, Colombia, Uganda, Canada, Ukraine, Malaysia, Ghana, and Peru. But that is just the tip of the iceberg.
Other countries that celebrate on this day are: Australia, the Ivory Coast, Venezuela, Sri Lanka, Taiwan, Zambia, Chad, Chile, the Netherlands, Ecuador, Cambodia, Zimbabwe, Belgium, Honduras, Papua New Guinea, Cuba, Greece, Austria, Switzerland, Hong Kong, the Republic of Congo, Denmark, Singapore, Liberia, the Central African Republic, Finland, Slovakia, New Zealand, and Crotia.
The second Sunday of May is also Mother’s Day for: Uruguay, Namibia, Gambia, Jamaica, Gabon, Botswana, Equatorial Guinea, Latvia, Trinidad and Tobago, Cyprus, Estonia, Fiji, Guyana, Bhutan, Macau, Suriname, Brunei, Belize, Bermuda, the Bahamas, Iceland, Barbados, Samoa, Curacao, Saint Lucia, Grenada, Aruba, Tonga, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Antigua and Barbuda, the Cayman Islands, Dominica, Bermuda, the Faroe Islands, Greenland, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Sint Maarten, Liechtenstein, and Anguilla.
Mexico, Guatemala, and El Salvador honor mothers on May 10 every year.
And yet, other countries have different dates.
For example, people from Angola, Mozambique, Romania, Portugal, Hungary, Lithuania, Cape Verde, and South Sudan celebrate Mother’s Day on the first Sunday of May.
Meanwhile, if you live in Algeria, Morocco, Madagascar, Cameroon, Niger, Mali, Senegal, Tunisia, Haiti, the Dominican Republic, Sweden, or Mauritius, you probably celebrate Mother’s Day on the last Sunday in May.
Though if you live in France, Mother’s Day falls either on the last Sunday in May or the first Sunday in June if the original date falls on Pentecost.
