Chinese Zodiac.
Find your animal and element by birth date, with the lunar boundaries the simple charts get wrong. Every year from 1900 to 2030.
Use the calculator →Choose the right Chinese zodiac calculator
Start with a birth date here. Use the other tools when you need an element, a match, or a birth hour.
This calculator uses the Lunar New Year boundary, not January 1. If you were born near late January or February, the boundary matters.
Born in January or February? Read this first.
Born 15 January 1998? You are a Fire Ox, not the Tiger the year-only charts assign, because the 1997 lunar year ran until 27 January.
Every page here is built on the verified boundary date, the detail most sites skip.
The January and February rule →
Popular Chinese zodiac years
Look up any birth year, or browse by decade across the full 1900 to 2030 range.
Chinese zodiac elements: meanings, years, and 60 combinations
The animal is only one layer. Every year also carries an element from the heavenly stem.
Chinese zodiac compatibility: are you a match?
The traditional matches between signs, read as cultural pattern, not a verdict.
The Year of the Fire Horse begins Feb 17, 2026.
What the Fire Horse means, who shares it, and how the lunar year of 2026 reads across the twelve signs.
Read the 2026 Chinese zodiac guide →Beyond the calculator: Chinese language and culture
The zodiac is a doorway. Pronounce the animals, read the idioms, learn the legend.
Frequently asked questions
How do I find my Chinese zodiac sign?
Enter your birth date in the calculator above. It returns your animal and element, and it handles the January or February boundary so you do not get the wrong sign.
Does the Chinese zodiac change on January 1?
No. The zodiac year begins on Chinese New Year, which falls in late January or mid February. A January birthday often belongs to the previous animal year.
What are the five elements in the Chinese zodiac?
Wood, fire, earth, metal, and water. Each year carries one, paired with the animal, so 2026 is a Fire Horse and 2019 was an Earth Pig.
What is the Chinese zodiac sign for 2026?
2026 is the Year of the Fire Horse, beginning February 17, 2026, and running until February 5, 2027.
Is the Chinese zodiac the same as my birth year?
Not always. Because the year turns on the new moon, a birthday in January or early February can belong to the year before the one on the calendar.
Why trust The Zodiac Lore
Most English zodiac sites are produced by tools that never opened an almanac. We work the other way.
Verifiable dates and stem-branch names, kept apart from the cultural reading.
No predictions about your future, your health, or your love life. That is not what this is.
Every date is checked against the almanac. Where a tradition is contested, we say so.
Who writes this
The Zodiac Lore is written and maintained by Haibo. Born and raised in China, he grew up with the Chinese zodiac as part of everyday life: Lunar New Year customs, almanac dates, and the folk meanings behind each animal. He built the site to give English readers that firsthand cultural grounding, with every date checked carefully against the calendar.
About The Zodiac Lore →