National Look-Alike Day is on Tuesday, April 20, 2027, and it falls on April 20 every year. It celebrates people who look uncannily like someone else, from twins to strangers who could pass as siblings. It’s a fun day to find your doppelgänger or dress up as your favorite celebrity.
When Is National Look-Alike Day?
It’s always April 20. It’s an unofficial day, celebrated mostly online with side-by-side photos.
Who Started National Look-Alike Day?
No founder or start year has been documented.
Background: what is a doppelgänger?
The word comes from German, combining “doppel” (double) and “gänger” (goer), Merriam-Webster explains. In English, it first meant a ghostly double of a living person, in 1851. Today it usually means someone who looks just like you.
Why Look-Alikes Fascinate Us
Finding someone with your face is surprising, and science is starting to explain why it happens. In 2022, Dr. Manel Esteller of the Josep Carreras Leukaemia Research Institute in Barcelona studied 32 pairs of unrelated look-alikes.
The pairs came from photographer François Brunelle’s portrait series of strangers who resemble each other. Facial recognition software rated 16 of the pairs about as similar as identical twins.
Those 16 pairs shared far more genetic variants than the others, the study in Cell Reports found. Their epigenetics and gut microbes, though, were different. “Genetics put them together, and epigenetics and microbiome pulls them apart,” Esteller said.
He hopes the work could one day help doctors spot inherited disease risks, or help investigators estimate a face from DNA. Other experts urged caution. Stanford’s Daphne Martschenko noted that facial algorithms have been used to reinforce racial bias, raising ethical questions.
How to Celebrate National Look-Alike Day
- Post a side-by-side: share a photo of you and the celebrity people say you resemble.
- Try a twin-face app: some photo apps compare your face to famous portraits.
- Host a look-alike party: guests come dressed as a famous person they resemble.
- Dig through family photos: find the relative you look most like at the same age.
- Match your pet: snap a photo with your dog or cat in matching poses.
- See the portraits: look up Brunelle’s “I’m not a look-alike!” series online and see how many pairs fool you.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do look-alikes share DNA?
Often, yes. In the 2022 study, the closest-matching unrelated look-alikes shared significantly more genetic variants than pairs who looked less alike.
Are look-alikes related?
Not necessarily. The study’s look-alikes were unrelated strangers. Similar DNA variants can show up in people with no recent shared ancestors.
Is National Look-Alike Day the same as Twins Day?
No. Twins celebrate at separate events, such as the Twins Days festival in Ohio. Look-Alike Day is for anyone who resembles someone else.