What is my Chinese zodiac sign?
Enter your full birth date below. If you were born in January or February, the year on your birth certificate is not enough to answer the question — and that is where most quick answers go wrong.
Find your sign from your full birth date
Not just the year — the day matters, and this is why most quick answers get January and February wrong.
The calculation runs entirely in your browser. Your birth date is never uploaded, stored, or sent anywhere.
Why the birth year alone is not enough
The Chinese zodiac year does not begin on January 1. It begins at Lunar New Year, and that date moves: it can fall anywhere between January 21 and February 20, because the Chinese calendar is lunisolar and the new year is set by the moon, not by a fixed square on the Gregorian grid.
The practical consequence is narrow but real. Somebody born on January 30, 1995 is not a Pig — the Pig year did not start until January 31 that year, so they are a Dog. Anyone born in the first weeks of a calendar year sits on the far side of that line, and a tool that asks only for a birth year has no way of knowing it.
That is why the calculator above takes a full date, and why it names the New Year date it used. You should be able to check the answer, not just receive it.
Two traditions, two starting lines
There is a second complication, and it is the one most quick calculators leave out entirely.
Everyday zodiac use — the animal you tell people at a dinner table, the animal on the red envelope — starts the year at Lunar New Year. But BaZi, and much of the astrological practice built on the stem-branch system, starts the year at Lìchūn (立春, Start of Spring), a solar term that falls on February 3, 4, or 5. Lichun is a solar event; Lunar New Year is a lunar one. They are simply different lines.
For most birth dates this changes nothing, because both lines have already been crossed. It matters for people born in the gap between the two — and in a year like 2026, when Lunar New Year does not arrive until February 17, that gap is nearly two weeks wide. Someone born on February 10, 2026 is a Snake by the everyday method and a Horse by the Lichun method. Neither answer is an error.
Why only the exact Lichun date needs more detail
The calculator uses the verified Lichun calendar date for each covered year. A birthday clearly before or after that date can be compared without any extra information. Lichun itself turns at an exact moment, not at midnight, and that moment depends on time zone. If your birthday falls on that year’s Lichun date, the calculator asks for birth time and birthplace instead of assigning the BaZi year by date alone.
The twelve animals, with their Chinese names
The animal order is fixed and the cycle never breaks, so recent years are the fastest way to place yourself. Each row also carries the Chinese character, its pinyin, and the Earthly Branch the animal belongs to — the branch is the older layer, and the animal is the popular name attached to it.
| Animal | Pinyin | Earthly Branch | Recent years |
|---|---|---|---|
| 鼠Rat | shǔ | 子 | 1996 · 2008 · 2020 |
| 牛Ox | niú | 丑 | 1997 · 2009 · 2021 |
| 虎Tiger | hǔ | 寅 | 1998 · 2010 · 2022 |
| 兔Rabbit | tù | 卯 | 1999 · 2011 · 2023 |
| 龙Dragon | lóng | 辰 | 2000 · 2012 · 2024 |
| 蛇Snake | shé | 巳 | 2001 · 2013 · 2025 |
| 马Horse | mǎ | 午 | 2002 · 2014 · 2026 |
| 羊Goat | yáng | 未 | 2003 · 2015 · 2027 |
| 猴Monkey | hóu | 申 | 2004 · 2016 · 2028 |
| 鸡Rooster | jī | 酉 | 2005 · 2017 · 2029 |
| 狗Dog | gǒu | 戌 | 2006 · 2018 · 2030 |
| 猪Pig | zhū | 亥 | 2007 · 2019 · 2031 |
The years in the last column are the calendar years those zodiac years mostly cover. They each actually begin at that year’s Lunar New Year, which is the distinction the calculator handles for you.
Frequently asked questions
What is my Chinese zodiac sign if I was born in January?
Check that year’s exact Lunar New Year date. It can fall between January 21 and February 20, so a January birthday before the cutoff uses the previous year’s animal, while a birthday on or after it uses the new one. The calculator checks the verified date rather than assuming from the year alone.
Why does the calculator ask for my full birth date instead of just the year?
Because the year alone cannot reliably answer January or February births. Two people born in the same calendar year — one before Lunar New Year, one after it — can have different zodiac animals. The full date lets the calculator compare the birthday with the verified cutoff.
What is the difference between the Lunar New Year and Lichun methods?
They are two conventions for where a year begins. Everyday zodiac use starts at Lunar New Year; BaZi and much of traditional Chinese astrology use Lichun (立春, Start of Spring). Where a verified Lichun date is available, the calculator compares both cutoffs. Only a birth on that year’s exact Lichun date needs birth time and birthplace to settle the BaZi year.
Which years does this calculator cover?
The checked table contains 138 verified Lunar New Year dates: every year from 1960 through 2031, plus 66 selected earlier years. It is not a continuous 1816–2031 table. If the entered year is absent, the calculator refuses instead of filling the gap with a formula.
Where does my element come from?
From the ten Heavenly Stems, which cycle in pairs: 甲乙 Wood, 丙丁 Fire, 戊己 Earth, 庚辛 Metal, 壬癸 Water. The stem is fixed by the zodiac year, so element and animal always move together. The same animal-and-element pairing returns once every sixty years, which is why your grandparent may share your exact combination.
Is my birth date sent anywhere?
No. The date table and the calculation both live in the page itself, so everything runs inside your browser. Nothing is uploaded, logged, or stored, and the page works the same with your network disconnected.
Where to go next
Got your sign — want the full stem-branch write-up?
This calculator resolves your animal and element. A full personalized report ties those together with your month, day, and hour pillars, or compares your chart with a partner’s.
Couple Compatibility ReportHow your sign and a partner’s sign read together, not just each one’s calculator result looked up separately.See the report →
Editorial note
Lunar New Year dates on this page come from a reference table checked by hand against multiple published sources. Lichun calendar dates from 1901 onward come from the Hong Kong Observatory solar-term table; the covered 1893–1900 dates were checked separately. No cutoff date is calculated or estimated, and a missing year is left out rather than filled by formula. Zodiac animals and the five elements are a cultural and calendrical tradition. They describe a system of naming years, not a measurement of personality, health, or fortune, and nothing on this page should be used to make medical, financial, or relationship decisions.