Its the most wonderful time of the year. No, not Christmas. Or Hanukkah. Or Kwanzaa. Or even the 11th anniversary of Beyoncs surprise self-titled album. Nope. Its cuffing season.At least thats what listener Antares thinks. She called Explain It to Me Voxs call-in podcast to ask if cuffing season is real. So in my understanding, cuffing season is an actual season which occurs between about October-ish and lasts until the weather starts to get good again, she says. During that time of year, people tend to want to find somebody to date casual or otherwise.Antares called in for an ex-boyfriend-turned-platonic-friend who has been struggling on dating apps recently. I wanted to tell him that cuffing season is right around the corner and he might have better luck. But is that true?The term cuffing season likely got its start in New York during the 2000s. The oldest reference online is from Musa Murchison. Murchison is now an artist and researcher, but back in 2008, they were a student at Brooklyn College, hosting a weekly radio show called Cuz We Said So Radio. On November 17, 2008, the topic of discussion was to cuff or not cuff.Cuffing season is not jargon I made up. It was New York jargon, Murchison says. And Murchison believes its real. I dont know many people who arent into a good snuggle when the winter rolls around. Were designed to be together, whether thats romantic or platonic. I have to admit, Antaress question sparked my inner Carrie Bradshaw. I couldnt help but wonder is cuffing season real? When the temperature drops, do our romantic prospects heat up?To find out, I spoke with several people, including Alison Gemmill, a professor, demographer, and perinatal epidemiologist at the Hopkins Population Center. Gemmill says we dont necessarily know if there are certain times of the year that people are more likely to get together. In terms of actual sexual activity, theres not good data, she says. One pretty strong hypothesis is that there are holidays that provide ample opportunities for people to engage in sexual activity. Part of the reason we dont know is that theres just not much research out there. Sexuality research is just underfunded generally in the US, Gemmill says.For now, we can rely on something thats worked for centuries: counting backwards on our fingers. In the US, we actually see a very strong peak in births around August or September, Gemmill says. Its very evident, and it occurs from conceptions that are happening around November and December. But without traditional data gathering, its hard to know whether this is causation or correlation. Also, not all dating results in sex, and not all sex results in a pregnancy or birth. Thats why I think the evidence from the dating apps is really important, she says. We have to go to these nontraditional data sources as researchers to learn about basic human behavior, which is partnership.Enter Michael Kaye, the head of branding for OkCupid, a dating app that asks users a series of questions about their lifestyles and preferences. When potential matches enter a daters feed, theyre presented with a percentage score based on how compatible the two swipers are. There are thousands of questions in our app, he says. Theyre obviously related to dating, relationships, and sex, but also anything thats top of mind for Gen Z and millennial daters. So if theres a topic that youre talking about with your friend or your family member or your coworker, were adding questions about that to the app, because chances are youre probably talking about it on a date as well. Daters answers can offer insight into what theyre looking for, and when. On this weeks episode of Explain It to Me, we find out what we know and dont know about the best time of year to cuff it up. Below is an excerpt of my conversation with Kaye, edited for length and clarity. You can listen to Explain It to Me on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get podcasts. If youd like to submit a question, send an email to askvox@vox.com or call 1-800-618-8545.What are the peaks and valleys of dating throughout the year? If we start at the beginning of the year, there is a holiday for us within the dating space thats called Dating Sunday. I thought people were pranking me when they told me. This is our Super Bowl. Theres a Super Bowl of dating? Its the biggest day for online dating, and it falls on the first Sunday in January. So this is where we at OkCupid and Hinge and Tinder and Match.com tend to see a skyrocket in activity and engagement on the app. We then see another bump in activity during Valentines Day. So if we look back at Valentines Day 2024, there was a 109 percent increase in daters on OkCupid who said its more important for them to find their forever person right now over being able to date around for a while. Last year, between October and December there was a 26 percent increase in people saying, Im looking for my forever person right now. Im not looking for something casual. Great if you are. Thats just not for me. How do those cuffing season metrics compare to our hot girl summer metrics? There are still bumps in activity and engagement, but the intent with which theyre going into this dating app experience is different. There are two areas that we look at to help us figure out a little bit more about user behavior. One is what theyre looking for, whether thats long-term dating, short-term dating, or friendships. I will say most users dont actually change that that often. So we also look at how daters are answering our intent-based questions: Whats more important to you right now: love versus sex? What are you looking for right now? How long do you want your next relationship to last? We pay a lot of attention to those questions and how people are responding to them.Last year, there was a 14 percent decrease in people looking for love over sex June through October; that means that theres an increase in people looking for something more casual.How do you measure these peaks in dating? First, well start with downloads. That really spikes during Dating Sunday. But then also were seeing likes and messages and conversations spike as well during this time. Sundays in general are a really great day for online dating throughout the entire year. Dating Sunday is significantly higher than those other Sundays, but if we look week by week, Sunday afternoons are the busiest time for dating apps in general. Do people match more during cuffing season, too?We actually asked our daters this week if they believe cuffing season is real. What were finding right now is that 63 percent of people believe cuffing season is real, and theyre looking for love right now. And more than half of people said they are actually going on more dates during fall and winter compared to spring and summer. Youve read 1 article in the last monthHere at Vox, we're unwavering in our commitment to covering the issues that matter most to you threats to democracy, immigration, reproductive rights, the environment, and the rising polarization across this country.Our mission is to provide clear, accessible journalism that empowers you to stay informed and engaged in shaping our world. By becoming a Vox Member, you directly strengthen our ability to deliver in-depth, independent reporting that drives meaningful change.We rely on readers like you join us.Swati SharmaVox Editor-in-ChiefSee More: