Chinese Zodiac Calculator

The Chinese zodiac is a cycle of 12 years, and each year has an animal: Rat, Ox, Tiger, Rabbit, Dragon, Snake, Horse, Goat, Monkey, Rooster, Dog and Pig. Your sign is the animal of the year you were born in. After 12 years the animals start again, so everyone born in 1985 and 1997 shares an animal but not a year.

Each year also carries one of five elements: Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal and Water. The 12 animals and five elements come around together once every 60 years, so there are 60 combinations, such as Wood Ox or Fire Horse. The tradition is more than 2,000 years old and is still part of how many families in China, Vietnam, Korea and elsewhere mark birthdays, weddings and the new year. We treat it as a cultural tradition and present the results for reflection and entertainment.

Vela keeps a luopan, a Chinese feng shui compass, on her table. Its outer ring carries the twelve animals. Enter your birth date and the ring turns and stops on your animal.

The free result shows:

• your animal and the element of your birth year;
• whether the year is yin or yang;
• the exact Chinese New Year date for your birth year, and whether it puts you in the animal before;
• a few traits for your animal;
• your best matches: the two animals in your trine and your secret friend;
• your most challenging match: the animal that clashes with yours.

The tool uses your full birth date because January and February birthdays can fall on either side of the new year. You don't need a birth time or place.

Chinese zodiac years follow the lunar calendar, not January 1. A new animal year begins at Chinese New Year, which usually falls on the second new moon after the winter solstice. That puts it on a date between late January and about February 20, and it changes every year.

If you were born in January or early February, before Chinese New Year that year, your animal is the one from the previous year. Someone born on January 15, 1992 is a Goat, not a Monkey, because the Monkey year began on February 4, 1992. The calculator works the boundary out from the new moon dates, so you don't have to look up the date yourself.

Find your birth year below. If you were born in January or February, the Chinese New Year date matters: before it, you belong to the animal listed one row up, and for Rat, the Pig row. The calculator checks this for you.

Animal	Years	Traits
Rat	1924, 1936, 1948, 1960, 1972, 1984, 1996, 2008, 2020	clever, resourceful, quick-witted
Ox	1925, 1937, 1949, 1961, 1973, 1985, 1997, 2009, 2021	diligent, dependable, patient
Tiger	1926, 1938, 1950, 1962, 1974, 1986, 1998, 2010, 2022	brave, confident, competitive
Rabbit	1927, 1939, 1951, 1963, 1975, 1987, 1999, 2011, 2023	gentle, elegant, kind
Dragon	1928, 1940, 1952, 1964, 1976, 1988, 2000, 2012, 2024	confident, ambitious, charismatic
Snake	1929, 1941, 1953, 1965, 1977, 1989, 2001, 2013, 2025	wise, intuitive, private
Horse	1930, 1942, 1954, 1966, 1978, 1990, 2002, 2014, 2026	energetic, independent, cheerful
Goat	1931, 1943, 1955, 1967, 1979, 1991, 2003, 2015, 2027	gentle, creative, compassionate
Monkey	1932, 1944, 1956, 1968, 1980, 1992, 2004, 2016, 2028	clever, curious, playful
Rooster	1933, 1945, 1957, 1969, 1981, 1993, 2005, 2017, 2029	observant, hardworking, confident
Dog	1934, 1946, 1958, 1970, 1982, 1994, 2006, 2018, 2030	loyal, honest, protective
Pig	1935, 1947, 1959, 1971, 1983, 1995, 2007, 2019, 2031	generous, easygoing, sincere

For a full profile of each animal, follow the links, or start with our Chinese zodiac guide. Each animal page lists the five element types of that animal, such as the Wood Rabbit of 1975 or the Fire Rabbit of 1987.

The element follows the last digit of your birth year:

Last digit	Element
0 or 1	Metal
2 or 3	Water
4 or 5	Wood
6 or 7	Fire
8 or 9	Earth

So 1985 was a Wood Ox year, 1989 an Earth Snake year, 1992 a Water Monkey year and 1994 a Wood Dog year. Tradition says the element colors the animal's basic character. Wood adds growth and generosity, Fire adds passion and drive, Earth adds stability, Metal adds discipline and Water adds intuition and flexibility. Remember to use the lunar year you belong to if your birthday is in January or February.

The calculator's love match section compares two animals using three traditional rules.

Trines. The animals fall into four groups of three, each four years apart. Animals in the same group are said to understand each other naturally.

• Rat, Dragon and Monkey
• Ox, Snake and Rooster
• Tiger, Horse and Dog
• Rabbit, Goat and Pig

Secret friends. Six pairs are called secret friends, a bond of quiet support:

• Rat and Ox
• Tiger and Pig
• Rabbit and Dog
• Dragon and Rooster
• Snake and Monkey
• Horse and Goat

Clashes. Animals six years apart sit opposite each other on the wheel and are said to clash:

• Rat and Horse
• Ox and Goat
• Tiger and Monkey
• Rabbit and Rooster
• Dragon and Dog
• Snake and Pig

Any other pairing is neutral. It isn't good or bad, and the rest depends on the two people. For a love match, enter two birth years or full dates and the tool tells you whether the pair is a trine, secret friends, a clash or neutral, with a sentence on what that means. Treat it as a conversation starter. Plenty of happy couples have a "clashing" pair of animals.

The Chinese zodiac assigns one animal to a whole lunar year. The Western zodiac assigns one of 12 signs by where the Sun stood on your birth date, so a sign lasts about a month. Everyone has both, and they answer different questions: the animal comes from the year and the family tradition around it, the Western sign comes from the sky on the day you were born.

To compare a Western sun-sign pair, use the compatibility test. For the details of each animal, read the Chinese zodiac guide.