Chinese zodiac calculator
Your Chinese zodiac animal depends on the lunar year you were born in, and the lunar year starts at Chinese New Year, somewhere between 21 January and 20 February. That is why a birthday in January or early February often belongs to the previous animal, and why year-only tables get it wrong. Enter the full date and this calculator counts it properly: the animal, the element of the year (Metal, Water, Wood, Fire or Earth), yin or yang, the date in the lunar calendar, and when your animal’s year comes round again.
- Year
- Element
- Yin or yang
- Earthly branch
- Hours of the animal
- Lunar birthday
- Best company
- Your next year
Make the poster
Your animal in ink, the lunar date, and your name. Add a Chinese name and it is set as a round seal.
The twelve animals and when their years begin
Each animal's year begins on Chinese New Year's Day, the first day of the first lunar month, and that day moves between 21 January and 20 February. The table gives the exact start of each animal's most recent year and of its next one. If your birthday falls before the start date in your birth year, you belong to the animal in the row above.
| Animal | Character | Most recent year began | Next year begins |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rat | 鼠 shǔ | 25 January 2020 | 11 February 2032 |
| Ox | 牛 niú | 12 February 2021 | 31 January 2033 |
| Tiger | 虎 hǔ | 1 February 2022 | 19 February 2034 |
| Rabbit | 兔 tù | 22 January 2023 | 8 February 2035 |
| Dragon | 龙 lóng | 10 February 2024 | 28 January 2036 |
| Snake | 蛇 shé | 29 January 2025 | 15 February 2037 |
| Horse | 马 mǎ | 17 February 2026 | 4 February 2038 |
| Goat | 羊 yáng | 19 February 2015 | 6 February 2027 |
| Monkey | 猴 hóu | 8 February 2016 | 26 January 2028 |
| Rooster | 鸡 jī | 28 January 2017 | 13 February 2029 |
| Dog | 狗 gǒu | 16 February 2018 | 3 February 2030 |
| Pig | 猪 zhū | 5 February 2019 | 23 January 2031 |
The order never changes: Rat, Ox, Tiger, Rabbit, Dragon, Snake, Horse, Goat, Monkey, Rooster, Dog, Pig. The Goat is also translated Sheep or Ram; the character 羊 covers all three. Each animal has its own page on the zodiac, and the year now coming is set out on Chinese New Year 2027.
Why January and February birthdays trip people up
A year-only table assumes the animal changes on 1 January, and for anyone born in the first seven weeks of the year it can give the wrong animal. The zodiac runs on the lunar year, so the change happens at Chinese New Year, which in 1990 fell on 27 January. Two people born that winter show the difference.
Born 3 February 1990: Metal Horse. New Year had come a week earlier, so this is the eighth day of the first lunar month, 正月初八 (zhēngyuè chūbā), in the 庚午 year. 庚 (gēng) is the seventh heavenly stem and carries Metal; 午 (wǔ) is the earthly branch of the Horse. Even years are yang, so this is a yang Metal Horse.
Born 20 January 1990: Earth Snake. New Year was still a week away, so this birthday is 腊月廿四 (làyuè niànsì), the twenty-fourth of the twelfth month of the 己巳 (jǐsì) year, which began in 1989. A table that says "1990: Horse" gets this person wrong.
The rule: if you were born on or after Chinese New Year of your birth year, take that year's animal; if before, take the previous year's. The calculator holds the exact New Year date for every year from 1900 to 2100, and it also gives the date in the lunar calendar, which the lunar birthday calculator explains in full.
The elements: two years each, sixty years in all
The element of a zodiac year comes from its heavenly stem (天干, tiāngān), one of ten signs that run alongside the twelve animals, the earthly branches (地支, dìzhī). The ten stems go in pairs, two to each element, so each element lasts two consecutive years, first yang, then yin.
| Stems | Element | Years ending in | Recent examples |
|---|---|---|---|
| 甲 jiǎ · 乙 yǐ | Wood 木 mù | 4, 5 | 2024 Wood Dragon, 2025 Wood Snake |
| 丙 bǐng · 丁 dīng | Fire 火 huǒ | 6, 7 | 2026 Fire Horse, 2027 Fire Goat |
| 戊 wù · 己 jǐ | Earth 土 tǔ | 8, 9 | 2018 Earth Dog, 2019 Earth Pig |
| 庚 gēng · 辛 xīn | Metal 金 jīn | 0, 1 | 2020 Metal Rat, 2021 Metal Ox |
| 壬 rén · 癸 guǐ | Water 水 shuǐ | 2, 3 | 2022 Water Tiger, 2023 Water Rabbit |
The last digit of the lunar year gives the element, and an even year is yang, an odd one yin. Ten stems against twelve branches only line up again after sixty years, so a given element and animal, such as the Fire Horse, returns once a lifetime: 1966, then 2026. The cycle restarts at 甲子 (jiǎzǐ), the Wood Rat, which last began in 1984 and comes back in 2044. Use the lunar year, not the calendar year: someone born on 20 January 1990 counts as 1989 here, which is why they are Earth, not Metal.
How it works
Enter the day, month and year you were born.
Read your animal, its element and yin-yang, and your birthday in the lunar calendar.
Make a poster with the animal painted in ink wash and your name beneath it, if you like.
Questions
What is my Chinese zodiac animal?
Your Chinese zodiac animal is the animal of the lunar year you were born in. Enter your full birthday in the calculator: it finds the Chinese New Year date for that year and, if you were born before it, gives you the previous year's animal. For most birthdays from March to December the Gregorian year is enough; for January and February the exact date decides.
Why does my animal differ from the one in a table?
Most tables list the Gregorian year and assume the animal changes on 1 January. The zodiac follows the lunar year, which begins at Chinese New Year, between 21 January and 20 February. A birthday before that date belongs to the previous animal, so a table can be wrong for anyone born in January or early February.
What zodiac animal is 2027?
2027 is the Year of the Goat, a Fire Goat (丁未, dīngwèi), and it begins on 6 February 2027, Chinese New Year's Day. It runs until 25 January 2028, the day before the Monkey year starts. Anyone born from 6 February 2027 to 25 January 2028 is a Goat.
What element am I in the Chinese zodiac?
Your element is set by the last digit of your lunar birth year: 0 or 1 is Metal, 2 or 3 Water, 4 or 5 Wood, 6 or 7 Fire, 8 or 9 Earth. It comes from the heavenly stem of the year. If you were born before Chinese New Year, use the previous year's digit, which can change your element.
Am I yin or yang?
Yin or yang follows the lunar year: even-numbered years are yang and odd-numbered years are yin. Each element covers two years, a yang year followed by a yin one, so 2026 is a yang Fire year and 2027 a yin Fire year. As with the element, a January or February birthday may belong to the previous lunar year.
How often does my zodiac year come round?
Your animal returns every twelve years, so you reach your own zodiac year (本命年, běnmìngnián) at 12, 24, 36, 48 and so on. The same animal with the same element returns only every sixty years. The calculator shows when your next animal year starts, to the day.
What is the Chinese zodiac for someone born in January?
Someone born in January is almost always the animal of the previous year, because Chinese New Year has not yet arrived. It can fall as early as 21 January, so a birthday in the last days of January may already be in the new year; in 2028, for example, New Year is 26 January. Enter the exact date to be sure.
Is the Goat the same as the Sheep or the Ram?
Yes. The eighth animal is 羊 (yáng), a word that covers goats and sheep alike, so English sources use Goat, Sheep and Ram for the same sign. We use Goat throughout. The Year of the Goat 2027 is sometimes sold as the Year of the Sheep; the dates and the sign are the same.
Is the zodiac a prediction?
We present the traditional character of each animal as culture, not prediction. The dates, the lunar calendar and the elements are exact calculations; the personality traits are what centuries of folklore say about each animal, and they are worth reading in that spirit.
Read more
- How Chinese names work: surname first, then one or two charactersA Chinese name is a one-character family name followed by a given name of one or two characters, each with a meaning. Which part is the first name, how the parts fit, how they are spoken and written, and what makes a name sound real.