Chinese zodiac calculator: what is my sign?

The Chinese zodiac assigns each lunar year one of twelve animals, in a fixed order from Rat to Pig. Your birth year's animal is said to color your temperament, your luck and how you meet the world.

Each year also carries one of five elements, Metal, Water, Wood, Fire and Earth, and a polarity of yin or yang. Animal, element and polarity repeat together only once every sixty years, so a Wood Dragon and a Metal Dragon are different creatures.

The Chinese year does not start on January 1. It begins at Chinese New Year, which falls on a different date between late January and late February every year.

So a birthday on, say, January 20, 1990, lands before that year's new year and belongs to the Earth Snake of 1989, not the Metal Horse of 1990. This calculator carries the exact new year dates from 1900 to 2050 and does that check for you.

Alongside the twelve animals run five elements: Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal and Water. Each year carries one animal and one element, plus a polarity of yin or yang, so the full name of a year is something like Yang Wood Dragon.

The same animal and element pair only meets again every sixty years, which is why a Wood Dragon and a Metal Dragon are read as different characters. This calculator names all three for your year: animal, element and polarity.

The cycle runs Rat, Ox, Tiger, Rabbit, Dragon, Snake, Horse, Goat, Monkey, Rooster, Dog and Pig, each returning once every twelve years. Tradition gives every animal a character: the Rat quick and resourceful, the Ox steady, the Tiger bold, the Rabbit gentle, on through the Pig, generous and sincere.

The table above lists each animal with its recent birth years, so you can find yours and see who shares it. Your animal is read as a broad sketch of temperament, enjoyed the way a Western sun sign is, and many people know theirs long before they meet its element or its full sixty-year name. The calculator fills in the rest.

2026 is a year of the Horse in the Chinese zodiac, beginning at Chinese New Year on February 17 rather than on January 1. Anyone born on or after that date takes the year's animal and element; anyone born earlier in January or February belongs to the animal of the year before.

Because the boundary moves each year, the surest way to know your animal is to enter your full birth date, which lets the calculator check the exact new year date for you.

Each animal returns every twelve years, so your animal points to a run of birth years, such as 1990, 2002 and 2014 for the Horse, and the calculator lists the recent years for every sign.

Tradition also groups the animals into pairs that get along and pairs that clash, the basis of Chinese zodiac compatibility. It is read for fun and reflection, the same way Western sign compatibility is, never as a rule about who suits whom.

Your Chinese animal comes from the year you were born; your Western sun sign comes from the day. They answer different questions, and they get along fine: many people enjoy reading their character through both lenses.

If the western side of your sky is calling, NovaOracles computes your full birth chart from real astronomy, personal to the minute you were born.