How many bones are in the human body?
An adult human skeleton has 206 bones. Babies are born with around 270 to 300 bones and cartilage pieces, and many of them fuse together as the body grows.
A newborn's skeleton has many separate pieces that are still partly cartilage, which keeps the body flexible during birth and early growth. Over childhood and the teenage years, some of these pieces join. The skull, for example, starts as several plates separated by soft spots and gradually fuses into one solid structure.
More than half of an adult's bones are in the hands and feet: each hand has 27 bones and each foot has 26. The largest and strongest bone is the femur, or thighbone. The smallest is the stapes in the middle ear, which is about the size of a grain of rice.
Why the number can vary
The figure of 206 is the standard count, but individual skeletons differ a little. Some people have an extra rib, extra small bones in the hands or feet, or extra bones called sesamoids inside tendons. Bones are living tissue too: they constantly break down and rebuild, and your body replaces most of its skeleton over about ten years.
Did You Know?
Babies are born without bony kneecaps: they start as cartilage and slowly harden into bone between about ages 2 and 6. The only bone in the body not connected to another bone is the hyoid, a small U-shaped bone in the throat that supports the tongue.
This answer is general information, not medical advice. For a personal health question, talk to a doctor.