Chinese Zodiac Sign Calculator

About the Chinese zodiac

The Chinese zodiac (生肖, shēngxiào) is a 12-year cycle, where each year is associated with one of twelve animals. Layered on top is a 10-year cycle of "heavenly stems" — the five elements (wood, fire, earth, metal, water) each appearing in a yang and a yin year. Together, the animal and the stem produce a 60-year cycle. The reset point isn't January 1: the zodiac year starts on the lunar new year, which falls between late January and mid-February.

How to use it

Just enter your birth date. The calculator looks up the lunar new year of that calendar year and decides whether you fall before or after it. If you were born in late January or early February, your zodiac sign may be the one for the previous Western year — that's normal and built in.

How the calculation works

First, find the lunar new year for the calendar year of birth. If your date is on or after it, your zodiac year is that calendar year; otherwise it's the previous one. The animal is (year − 1900) mod 12 mapped onto the cycle starting from Rat. The element and yin/yang follow the heavenly stems, where (year − 1984) mod 10 indexes a 10-step cycle starting at Wood-Yang (1984 was a Jia-Zi year, the start of the 60-year cycle).

The 12 animals

Recent zodiac years for each animal.

Frequently asked questions