New York, May 14 (IANS): People born under certain astrological signs are more likely to become famous, says a US university statistical analysis of birth month and celebrity status.

Those who are born between late December and early March may have higher chances of being a celebrity, the findings showed.

People's personalities tend to vary somewhat depending on the season in which they are born, and astrological signs may have developed as a useful system for remembering these patterns, said the analysis by social scientist Mark Hamilton from the University of Connecticut.

Such seasonal effects may not be clear in individuals, but can be discerned through averaging personality traits across large cohorts born at the same time of year.

"Psychologists want to dismiss these astrological correlations, but there are seasonality effects that we have yet to explain," Hamilton noted.

Traditional Western astrology uses elements (water, earth, air and fire), sign duality (bright/dark) and sign qualities (cardinal, mutable and fixed) to describe and categorise these effects.

It considers late December through early March as a "wet" time of year, and connects wetness with creativity, for example.

"Fixed" signs are said to be more stubborn and persistent than others.

Hamilton looked at a data set of 300 celebrities from the fields of politics, science, public service, literature, the arts and sports. He found that celebrities' birth dates tended to cluster at certain times of the year.

'Wet' signs were associated with more celebrities, as were signs classified as 'bright' and 'fixed'.

The findings were published in the journal Comprehensive Psychology.