Your Chinese zodiac sign is the animal of the Chinese year you were born in. Find your birth year in the table below and look at the date that year began: if your birthday falls on or after it, that's your animal, and if you were born earlier in January or February, you belong to the year before.
The twelve animals always run in the same order: Rat, Ox, Tiger, Rabbit, Dragon, Snake, Horse, Goat, Monkey, Rooster, Dog and Pig. Each year also carries one of five elements, so you aren't simply a Horse, you're a Metal Horse or a Fire Horse, and that exact pairing comes round once every sixty years.
Chinese zodiac years from 1936 to 2031
The second column is Chinese New Year, the first day of the Chinese year, as given in the Hong Kong Observatory's calendar tables. Each year runs until the day before the next one begins. The table covers eight full cycles of the twelve animals.
| Year | Year begins | Animal |
|---|---|---|
| 1936 | Jan 24 | Fire Rat |
| 1937 | Feb 11 | Fire Ox |
| 1938 | Jan 31 | Earth Tiger |
| 1939 | Feb 19 | Earth Rabbit |
| 1940 | Feb 8 | Metal Dragon |
| 1941 | Jan 27 | Metal Snake |
| 1942 | Feb 15 | Water Horse |
| 1943 | Feb 5 | Water Goat |
| 1944 | Jan 25 | Wood Monkey |
| 1945 | Feb 13 | Wood Rooster |
| 1946 | Feb 2 | Fire Dog |
| 1947 | Jan 22 | Fire Pig |
| 1948 | Feb 10 | Earth Rat |
| 1949 | Jan 29 | Earth Ox |
| 1950 | Feb 17 | Metal Tiger |
| 1951 | Feb 6 | Metal Rabbit |
| 1952 | Jan 27 | Water Dragon |
| 1953 | Feb 14 | Water Snake |
| 1954 | Feb 3 | Wood Horse |
| 1955 | Jan 24 | Wood Goat |
| 1956 | Feb 12 | Fire Monkey |
| 1957 | Jan 31 | Fire Rooster |
| 1958 | Feb 18 | Earth Dog |
| 1959 | Feb 8 | Earth Pig |
| 1960 | Jan 28 | Metal Rat |
| 1961 | Feb 15 | Metal Ox |
| 1962 | Feb 5 | Water Tiger |
| 1963 | Jan 25 | Water Rabbit |
| 1964 | Feb 13 | Wood Dragon |
| 1965 | Feb 2 | Wood Snake |
| 1966 | Jan 21 | Fire Horse |
| 1967 | Feb 9 | Fire Goat |
| 1968 | Jan 30 | Earth Monkey |
| 1969 | Feb 17 | Earth Rooster |
| 1970 | Feb 6 | Metal Dog |
| 1971 | Jan 27 | Metal Pig |
| 1972 | Feb 15 | Water Rat |
| 1973 | Feb 3 | Water Ox |
| 1974 | Jan 23 | Wood Tiger |
| 1975 | Feb 11 | Wood Rabbit |
| 1976 | Jan 31 | Fire Dragon |
| 1977 | Feb 18 | Fire Snake |
| 1978 | Feb 7 | Earth Horse |
| 1979 | Jan 28 | Earth Goat |
| 1980 | Feb 16 | Metal Monkey |
| 1981 | Feb 5 | Metal Rooster |
| 1982 | Jan 25 | Water Dog |
| 1983 | Feb 13 | Water Pig |
| 1984 | Feb 2 | Wood Rat |
| 1985 | Feb 20 | Wood Ox |
| 1986 | Feb 9 | Fire Tiger |
| 1987 | Jan 29 | Fire Rabbit |
| 1988 | Feb 17 | Earth Dragon |
| 1989 | Feb 6 | Earth Snake |
| 1990 | Jan 27 | Metal Horse |
| 1991 | Feb 15 | Metal Goat |
| 1992 | Feb 4 | Water Monkey |
| 1993 | Jan 23 | Water Rooster |
| 1994 | Feb 10 | Wood Dog |
| 1995 | Jan 31 | Wood Pig |
| 1996 | Feb 19 | Fire Rat |
| 1997 | Feb 7 | Fire Ox |
| 1998 | Jan 28 | Earth Tiger |
| 1999 | Feb 16 | Earth Rabbit |
| 2000 | Feb 5 | Metal Dragon |
| 2001 | Jan 24 | Metal Snake |
| 2002 | Feb 12 | Water Horse |
| 2003 | Feb 1 | Water Goat |
| 2004 | Jan 22 | Wood Monkey |
| 2005 | Feb 9 | Wood Rooster |
| 2006 | Jan 29 | Fire Dog |
| 2007 | Feb 18 | Fire Pig |
| 2008 | Feb 7 | Earth Rat |
| 2009 | Jan 26 | Earth Ox |
| 2010 | Feb 14 | Metal Tiger |
| 2011 | Feb 3 | Metal Rabbit |
| 2012 | Jan 23 | Water Dragon |
| 2013 | Feb 10 | Water Snake |
| 2014 | Jan 31 | Wood Horse |
| 2015 | Feb 19 | Wood Goat |
| 2016 | Feb 8 | Fire Monkey |
| 2017 | Jan 28 | Fire Rooster |
| 2018 | Feb 16 | Earth Dog |
| 2019 | Feb 5 | Earth Pig |
| 2020 | Jan 25 | Metal Rat |
| 2021 | Feb 12 | Metal Ox |
| 2022 | Feb 1 | Water Tiger |
| 2023 | Jan 22 | Water Rabbit |
| 2024 | Feb 10 | Wood Dragon |
| 2025 | Jan 29 | Wood Snake |
| 2026 | Feb 17 | Fire Horse |
| 2027 | Feb 6 | Fire Goat |
| 2028 | Jan 26 | Earth Monkey |
| 2029 | Feb 13 | Earth Rooster |
| 2030 | Feb 3 | Metal Dog |
| 2031 | Jan 23 | Metal Pig |
Born in January or February?
This is where most people get the wrong animal. Chinese New Year is set by the Chinese lunisolar calendar, which counts months from new moon to new moon, so it moves around on the calendar on your fridge. It always lands somewhere between January 21 and February 20.
Take two people born in 1990, when the New Year fell on January 27. Someone born on February 1, 1990 arrived after it, so they're a Metal Horse. Someone born on January 20, 1990 arrived while the old year was still running, so they're an Earth Snake, the animal of 1989. If your birthday is in the gap between January 1 and the New Year date, count yourself in the previous row of the table.
The other rule: Lichun, the start of spring
BaZi, the Chinese system of reading a full birth chart, and many feng shui practitioners don't use New Year's Day at all. They start the year at Lichun, the solar term called the Start of Spring, which falls on February 3, 4 or 5 depending on the year. Lichun is fixed by the Sun, not the Moon.
Usually the two rules agree. Sometimes they don't. Back to the person born on February 1, 1990: by the New Year rule they're a Horse, but Lichun 1990 fell on February 4, so a BaZi chart still gives them a Snake year. Neither answer is a mistake. For everyday conversation the New Year date is the usual convention; for a chart reading, practitioners use Lichun. Our guide to BaZi and the Four Pillars explains why the solar year matters there.
Two more wrinkles. Japan has counted its zodiac years from January 1 since it moved to the Gregorian calendar in 1873, so a Japanese reckoning can differ from a Chinese one for January and February birthdays. And Vietnam computes its lunar calendar for its own time zone, an hour behind Beijing, so Tết occasionally falls a day apart from Chinese New Year: in 2007, Tết began on February 17 and Chinese New Year on February 18.
Your element, and whether your year is yin or yang
The element is the easy part. Look at the last digit of your Chinese birth year:
- 0 or 1: Metal
- 2 or 3: Water
- 4 or 5: Wood
- 6 or 7: Fire
- 8 or 9: Earth
Years ending in an even digit are yang, and years ending in an odd digit are yin. So 1990 is a yang Metal year and 1987 is a yin Fire year. Remember to use the Chinese year, not the calendar year: our January 20, 1990 baby uses 1989, and is an Earth Snake. The guide to the Chinese zodiac elements covers what each element is associated with and how the sixty-year cycle fits together.
The animal is only the outer layer
Chinese astrology gives you more than one animal. The year animal is the one everyone shares with their classmates, and popular Western books often describe it as the side of you other people see. There's also an animal for the month you were born in, one for the day, and one for the two-hour period of your birth, which some writers call your secret animal. You can look up that last one in our guide to the Chinese zodiac birth hour.
A full BaZi chart uses all four, each paired with an element. That's where the real detail lives, much as a free birth chart in Western astrology says far more than a Sun sign. If you also want your Western sign, it comes from a different system altogether, based on the Sun's position on your birthday: find your Western zodiac sign here.
For the story of why the Rat comes first and the cat isn't there at all, see the Chinese zodiac animals in order.
Questions readers ask
What Chinese zodiac sign am I if I was born in January?
Probably the previous year's animal. Chinese New Year never falls before January 21, so every January 1 to 20 birthday belongs to the year before, and later January birthdays depend on that year's date in the table. Someone born on January 25, 1996 is a Wood Pig, because 1996 didn't begin until February 19.
What is the Chinese zodiac animal for 2026?
The Horse, and specifically the Fire Horse. The year began on February 17, 2026 and runs until February 5, 2027. Fire Horse years carry a famous superstition in Japan; our piece on the Fire Horse year meaning explains it.
What animal is 2027 in the Chinese zodiac?
The Goat, also translated as Sheep or Ram, and it's a Fire Goat. Chinese New Year 2027 falls on February 6, 2027, and the year ends on January 25, 2028. More in our guide to the Year of the Goat 2027.
Is the Vietnamese zodiac the same as the Chinese one?
Almost. Vietnam uses the same twelve-year wheel but has the Cat where China has the Rabbit, and the Water Buffalo where China has the Ox. So a person born in 1999 is an Earth Rabbit in China and an Earth Cat in Vietnam.
