Date & Time
Find your Chinese zodiac animal and element from your birth year. Enter a full birth date if you have one — it matters for January and February births, as explained below. For entertainment and general information.
The Chinese zodiac runs on a repeating 12-year cycle of animals, in this fixed order: Rat, Ox, Tiger, Rabbit, Dragon, Snake, Horse, Goat, Monkey, Rooster, Dog, Pig — then back to Rat. Your animal is set by your zodiac year: for example, the cycle position of 2024 is Dragon, 2025 is Snake, and 2026 is Horse.
Elements run on a parallel 10-year cycle — five elements, each lasting two consecutive years: Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal, Water. Combining the two cycles gives combinations like "Wood Dragon" (2024) or "Fire Horse" (2026), and the full combined pattern repeats every 60 years. The first of each element's two years is Yang and the second is Yin.
The lunar new year caveat — important: the Chinese zodiac year does not start on January 1. It starts on Chinese (Lunar) New Year, which falls between January 21 and February 20 depending on the year. So someone born in January or February may belong to the previous year's animal if their birthday came before that year's Lunar New Year. This calculator uses the standard year table as an approximation: if you enter a full birth date in January or February, it flags the caveat in the result — check your birth date against the exact Lunar New Year date for your birth year (for reference: 2023 — Jan 22; 2024 — Feb 10; 2025 — Jan 29; 2026 — Feb 17). If your birthday fell before it, use the previous year's row.
This page is for entertainment and general information about the Chinese zodiac tradition. It makes no claims about personality, compatibility, or fortune.
I was born in January — why might my animal differ? Because the zodiac year turns over at Lunar New Year, not January 1. A person born January 15, 2024 arrived before the Feb 10, 2024 Lunar New Year, so their animal is the 2023 animal (Rabbit), not the Dragon. The result above tells you when this caveat applies.
What years are the Dragon? Every 12 years: …, 2000, 2012, 2024, 2036, … The element changes each time, cycling Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal, Water across the 60-year combined cycle.
Is this the same as the Western zodiac? No — the Western zodiac is set by birth month and day within one year; the Chinese zodiac is set by the year. There is a separate Western zodiac calculator on this site.
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