Anniversary names, year by year

Every year together has a name. Find yours in the table — and next year's, so you can start planning.

Anniversary names, year by year
Time together	Name
1 year	Paper anniversary
2 years	Cotton anniversary
3 years	Leather anniversary
4 years	Fruit and flowers anniversary
5 years	Wood anniversary
6 years	Iron anniversary
7 years	Wool anniversary
8 years	Bronze anniversary
9 years	Pottery anniversary
10 years	Tin anniversary
11 years	Steel anniversary
12 years	Silk anniversary
13 years	Lace anniversary
14 years	Ivory anniversary
15 years	Crystal anniversary
16 years	Wax anniversary
17 years	Furniture anniversary
18 years	Porcelain anniversary
19 years	Bronze anniversary
20 years	China anniversary
21 years	Brass anniversary
22 years	Copper anniversary
23 years	Silver plate anniversary
24 years	Opal anniversary
25 years	Silver anniversary
30 years	Pearl anniversary
40 years	Ruby anniversary
50 years	Golden anniversary

Where these names come from

The tradition started in central Europe and travelled through marriage, but it applies to dating just as well today. The original logic was the gift: each year had a material, and the material grew more precious as time passed — paper for the first, silver for the twenty-fifth, gold for the fiftieth.

The rising scale isn't an accident. It tells a story about lasting: what begins fragile and disposable becomes rare and durable. That's why the list has outlived centuries of changing custom.

The list isn't the same everywhere

The American list and the Brazilian one diverge by the third year — leather there, wheat here. The French one starts differently altogether: the first year is cotton, not paper. None of them is wrong; they're parallel traditions that formed separately.

So if you find another list with different names, that's why. Use whichever makes sense to you — and, again, what ruins it is switching every year.

What to do with this

The obvious use is the gift: the material of the year settles the question of what to give without inventing anything. A wood anniversary asks for something wooden, and that's that.

The less obvious use is better. The name gives the date a theme — a photo, a letter, a dinner built around that material. It's the kind of thing that becomes a tradition of your own, one nobody else has.

Paper anniversary, and what else?

You already know the name of the year. What happened during it is what gets lost — unless someone writes it down.

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Questions everyone asks

Do anniversary names apply to dating or only marriage?

Both. The tradition began with marriage, but the count is simply time together — and more couples use the date they started dating.

What if our year isn't on the table?

After 25 the list jumps by decades. Use the nearest milestone before yours: at year 27 you've passed the silver anniversary and are heading for pearl.

Why do other lists show different names?

Because they're different traditions. The Brazilian, American and French lists disagree on several years. Here we show the one for the language you're reading.

How do I know how many years we have?

The days counter works it out from the date you started, and shows how long until your next year.