popularinchinaSubscribe

Tool · Culture

Chinese Zodiac Calculator

生肖 shēngxiào · the 12 animals

Your animal, element and yin or yang from your birth date, with the exact Lunar New Year date for every year from 1900 to 2100.

By The Popular in China desk Fact-checked by Alex Liu Checked · 2 sources

Find your animal

Born in January or February? The date matters: the zodiac year starts at Lunar New Year.

This year

Fire Horse 丙午

17 Feb 2026 – 5 Feb 2027

Next: Fire Goat 丁未, from 6 Feb 2027

🐎

丙午

The Year of the Horse, 2026

Horse

In Chinese: 马 mǎFire Horse · 火 · Yang

Lunar year 2026: 17 February 2026 to 5 February 2027

Trio 三合
Best pair 六合
Clash 六冲

Matches follow traditional Chinese folk belief, shown for interest, not as a prediction.

The answer

Your Chinese zodiac animal comes from the lunar year you were born in, and that year starts at Lunar New Year, between 21 January and 20 February, not on 1 January. 2026 is the Year of the Horse (Fire Horse, 丙午), from 17 February 2026 to 5 February 2027. 2027 is the Year of the Goat.

The 12 animals and their years

Tap an animal to see its matches. Years are lunar years: births in January or February may belong to the year before.

Elements and the 60-year cycle

Each year pairs one of ten heavenly stems with one of the 12 animals. The stem gives the element and yin or yang, so the same element and animal come back every 60 years.

  1. 2025Wood Snake木蛇Yin
  2. 2026Fire Horse火马Yang
  3. 2027Fire Goat火羊Yin
  4. 2028Earth Monkey土猴Yang
  5. 2029Earth Rooster土鸡Yin
ElementStemsLunar year ends in
木 Wood mù甲 乙 jiǎ, yǐ4 (yang) or 5 (yin)
火 Fire huǒ丙 丁 bǐng, dīng6 (yang) or 7 (yin)
土 Earth tǔ戊 己 wù, jǐ8 (yang) or 9 (yin)
金 Metal jīn庚 辛 gēng, xīn0 (yang) or 1 (yin)
水 Water shuǐ壬 癸 rén, guǐ2 (yang) or 3 (yin)

How the calculator works

The Chinese zodiac follows the lunar calendar. Each lunar year begins at Lunar New Year (Spring Festival, 春节), which falls between 21 January and 20 February. The calculator looks up the exact Lunar New Year date for your birth year, and if your birthday comes before it, it uses the previous lunar year.

From the lunar year it takes the earthly branch, which gives the animal, and the heavenly stem, which gives the element and yin or yang. The dates come from a standard Chinese calendar library, spot-checked against the Hong Kong Observatory’s official conversion tables.

Chinese astrology (BaZi) starts the year at Lichun, around 4 February, instead. Where the two methods disagree for your birthday, the result says so.

Lunar New Year dates, 1930–2045

Show every year
YearLunar New YearAnimalElementCycle
193030 January 1930HorseMetal庚午
193117 February 1931GoatMetal辛未
19326 February 1932MonkeyWater壬申
193326 January 1933RoosterWater癸酉
193414 February 1934DogWood甲戌
19354 February 1935PigWood乙亥
193624 January 1936RatFire丙子
193711 February 1937OxFire丁丑
193831 January 1938TigerEarth戊寅
193919 February 1939RabbitEarth己卯
19408 February 1940DragonMetal庚辰
194127 January 1941SnakeMetal辛巳
194215 February 1942HorseWater壬午
19435 February 1943GoatWater癸未
194425 January 1944MonkeyWood甲申
194513 February 1945RoosterWood乙酉
19462 February 1946DogFire丙戌
194722 January 1947PigFire丁亥
194810 February 1948RatEarth戊子
194929 January 1949OxEarth己丑
195017 February 1950TigerMetal庚寅
19516 February 1951RabbitMetal辛卯
195227 January 1952DragonWater壬辰
195314 February 1953SnakeWater癸巳
19543 February 1954HorseWood甲午
195524 January 1955GoatWood乙未
195612 February 1956MonkeyFire丙申
195731 January 1957RoosterFire丁酉
195818 February 1958DogEarth戊戌
19598 February 1959PigEarth己亥
196028 January 1960RatMetal庚子
196115 February 1961OxMetal辛丑
19625 February 1962TigerWater壬寅
196325 January 1963RabbitWater癸卯
196413 February 1964DragonWood甲辰
19652 February 1965SnakeWood乙巳
196621 January 1966HorseFire丙午
19679 February 1967GoatFire丁未
196830 January 1968MonkeyEarth戊申
196917 February 1969RoosterEarth己酉
19706 February 1970DogMetal庚戌
197127 January 1971PigMetal辛亥
197215 February 1972RatWater壬子
19733 February 1973OxWater癸丑
197423 January 1974TigerWood甲寅
197511 February 1975RabbitWood乙卯
197631 January 1976DragonFire丙辰
197718 February 1977SnakeFire丁巳
19787 February 1978HorseEarth戊午
197928 January 1979GoatEarth己未
198016 February 1980MonkeyMetal庚申
19815 February 1981RoosterMetal辛酉
198225 January 1982DogWater壬戌
198313 February 1983PigWater癸亥
19842 February 1984RatWood甲子
198520 February 1985OxWood乙丑
19869 February 1986TigerFire丙寅
198729 January 1987RabbitFire丁卯
198817 February 1988DragonEarth戊辰
19896 February 1989SnakeEarth己巳
199027 January 1990HorseMetal庚午
199115 February 1991GoatMetal辛未
19924 February 1992MonkeyWater壬申
199323 January 1993RoosterWater癸酉
199410 February 1994DogWood甲戌
199531 January 1995PigWood乙亥
199619 February 1996RatFire丙子
19977 February 1997OxFire丁丑
199828 January 1998TigerEarth戊寅
199916 February 1999RabbitEarth己卯
20005 February 2000DragonMetal庚辰
200124 January 2001SnakeMetal辛巳
200212 February 2002HorseWater壬午
20031 February 2003GoatWater癸未
200422 January 2004MonkeyWood甲申
20059 February 2005RoosterWood乙酉
200629 January 2006DogFire丙戌
200718 February 2007PigFire丁亥
20087 February 2008RatEarth戊子
200926 January 2009OxEarth己丑
201014 February 2010TigerMetal庚寅
20113 February 2011RabbitMetal辛卯
201223 January 2012DragonWater壬辰
201310 February 2013SnakeWater癸巳
201431 January 2014HorseWood甲午
201519 February 2015GoatWood乙未
20168 February 2016MonkeyFire丙申
201728 January 2017RoosterFire丁酉
201816 February 2018DogEarth戊戌
20195 February 2019PigEarth己亥
202025 January 2020RatMetal庚子
202112 February 2021OxMetal辛丑
20221 February 2022TigerWater壬寅
202322 January 2023RabbitWater癸卯
202410 February 2024DragonWood甲辰
202529 January 2025SnakeWood乙巳
202617 February 2026HorseFire丙午
20276 February 2027GoatFire丁未
202826 January 2028MonkeyEarth戊申
202913 February 2029RoosterEarth己酉
20303 February 2030DogMetal庚戌
203123 January 2031PigMetal辛亥
203211 February 2032RatWater壬子
203331 January 2033OxWater癸丑
203419 February 2034TigerWood甲寅
20358 February 2035RabbitWood乙卯
203628 January 2036DragonFire丙辰
203715 February 2037SnakeFire丁巳
20384 February 2038HorseEarth戊午
203924 January 2039GoatEarth己未
204012 February 2040MonkeyMetal庚申
20411 February 2041RoosterMetal辛酉
204222 January 2042DogWater壬戌
204310 February 2043PigWater癸亥
204430 January 2044RatWood甲子
204517 February 2045OxWood乙丑

Questions readers ask

What Chinese zodiac year is 2026?

2026 is the Year of the Horse (马, mǎ), a Fire Horse year, 丙午 in the 60-year cycle. It began on 17 February 2026 and ends on 5 February 2027. The Year of the Goat (Fire Goat, 丁未) starts on 6 February 2027.

I was born in January or early February. What is my animal?

Check the exact date. If you were born before that year’s Lunar New Year, you belong to the previous year’s animal. Someone born on 1 February 1986 is an Ox, because the Year of the Tiger began on 9 February 1986.

Why do some calculators start the year on 4 February?

Chinese astrology (BaZi, the “four pillars”) starts the year at Lichun (立春, “start of spring”), the solar term around 4 February. Everyday use follows Lunar New Year. This calculator uses Lunar New Year and tells you when the Lichun method gives a different answer.

What are the 12 Chinese zodiac animals in order?

Rat, Ox, Tiger, Rabbit, Dragon, Snake, Horse, Goat, Monkey, Rooster, Dog and Pig. The order repeats every 12 years. Combined with the ten heavenly stems, which give the element and yin or yang, the full cycle repeats every 60 years.

How do I find my element?

Your element comes from the last digit of your lunar birth year: 4 or 5 is Wood, 6 or 7 Fire, 8 or 9 Earth, 0 or 1 Metal, 2 or 3 Water. Even years are yang, odd years yin. Use the lunar year: a January 1987 birthday before Lunar New Year counts as 1986, a Fire Tiger.

Is the Goat a goat or a sheep?

Both. The character 羊 (yáng) covers goats and sheep, so English sources say Goat, Sheep or Ram for the same sign.

Which zodiac signs are compatible?

Traditional matching uses three rules: animals four years apart form a harmonious trio (三合, such as Rat, Dragon and Monkey), six fixed pairs are “six harmonies” (六合, such as Rat and Ox), and animals six years apart clash (六冲, such as Rat and Horse). It is folk belief, not a prediction.

Sources

  1. Hong Kong Observatory, Gregorian-Lunar calendar conversion tables, 1901–2100 · accessed 28 Oct 2026
  2. Wikipedia, Chinese zodiac (heavenly stems and elements, trines, six harmonies and clashes) · accessed 28 Oct 2026

Update log. 28 October 2026 — published. Next review due 26 January 2027. Suggest a correction

Newsletter · Free · Every Thursday

The China Brief

What China is talking about, in plain English. Every Thursday.

Free. Unsubscribe in one click.