"Shukran" is the most common way of saying thank you, be it in the classic Arabic language or in the colloquial Arabic. It is said the same way to both; male and female. You can also add "Jazeelan" after "Shukran" to be more polite, but it has more of a classic Arabic flavour. In Oman it is also common to say: "Ahsant" to a male, or "Ahsanti" to a woman as an alternative to "Shukran".
um, what I DO know is that it is NOT permissible to celebrate your birthday, e.g like a birthday party etc. Its shocking for most people, but Islam is a complete way of life and Muslims live their lives based on what the last messenger of God taught them. And Islam is not about 'what people do' or 'what people think', Islam is about 'what is right' or 'how it should be done' Here is a link about the full explanation why it is NOT permissible to celebrate birthdays: http://islamqa.com/en/ref/1027/birthday hope this helps Assalamualaikum!