diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 39adb19..8746b37 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -1,3 +1,7 @@
+## 2.5.2 [unreleased]
+
+- Added `dates` option to return dates for day, week, month, quarter, and year
+
 ## 2.5.1
 
 - Added `group_by_quarter`
diff --git a/lib/groupdate.rb b/lib/groupdate.rb
index 344f5c0..6aa5a5c 100644
--- a/lib/groupdate.rb
+++ b/lib/groupdate.rb
@@ -9,9 +9,10 @@ module Groupdate
   FIELDS = PERIODS
   METHODS = PERIODS.map { |v| :"group_by_#{v}" }
 
-  mattr_accessor :week_start, :day_start, :time_zone
+  mattr_accessor :week_start, :day_start, :time_zone, :dates
   self.week_start = :sun
   self.day_start = 0
+  self.dates = false
 end
 
 require "groupdate/enumerable"
diff --git a/lib/groupdate/magic.rb b/lib/groupdate/magic.rb
index e6baa04..f41b208 100644
--- a/lib/groupdate/magic.rb
+++ b/lib/groupdate/magic.rb
@@ -254,6 +254,8 @@ module Groupdate
               I18n.localize(key, format: options[:format], locale: locale)
             end
           end
+        elsif (options[:dates] || (Groupdate.dates && !options.key?(:dates))) && [:day, :week, :month, :quarter, :year].include?(field)
+          lambda { |k| k.to_date }
         else
           lambda { |k| k }
         end
diff --git a/test/test_helper.rb b/test/test_helper.rb
index e63e300..9179622 100644
--- a/test/test_helper.rb
+++ b/test/test_helper.rb
@@ -906,6 +906,13 @@ module TestGroupdate
     assert_equal 2, User.group_by_day(:created_at, carry_forward: true).count[utc.parse("2014-05-02 00:00:00 UTC")]
   end
 
+  # dates
+
+  def test_dates
+    create_user "2014-03-01 12:00:00 UTC"
+    assert_equal ({Date.parse("2014-03-01") => 1}), User.group_by_day(:created_at, dates: true).count
+  end
+
   # helpers
 
   def assert_format(method, expected, format, options = {})
--
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