Enter your birth year to find your Chinese zodiac animal with its Chinese character, pinyin pronunciation, personality traits, lucky colors, and compatibility.
Two steps. No sign-up. The calculator handles the awkward edge case that trips up most online zodiac tools — births in January and early February.
Type your birth year into the Chinese zodiac calculator above. For accurate results — especially if you were born in January or early February — switch to the "By Birth Date" tab so we can apply the Chinese New Year cutoff for you.
Your Chinese zodiac sign appears instantly with the Chinese character, pinyin pronunciation, personality traits, lucky colors, and best compatibility matches. Each animal also links to a typing lesson for the character.
Each animal carries its own character, pinyin, and a six-cycle memory of birth years. Together they form 十二生肖 — the complete zodiac cycle.
鼠
Rat
shǔ
2008 · 2020 · 2032
02 / 12牛
Ox
niú
2009 · 2021 · 2033
03 / 12虎
Tiger
hǔ
2010 · 2022 · 2034
04 / 12兔
Rabbit
tù
2011 · 2023 · 2035
05 / 12龙
Dragon
lóng
2012 · 2024 · 2036
06 / 12蛇
Snake
shé
2013 · 2025 · 2037
07 / 12马
Horse
mǎ
2014 · 2026 · 2038
08 / 12羊
Goat
yáng
2015 · 2027 · 2039
09 / 12猴
Monkey
hóu
2016 · 2028 · 2040
10 / 12鸡
Rooster
jī
2017 · 2029 · 2041
11 / 12狗
Dog
gǒu
2018 · 2030 · 2042
12 / 12猪
Pig
zhū
2019 · 2031 · 2043
The 12 Chinese zodiac signs, in order, are the Rat, Ox, Tiger, Rabbit, Dragon, Snake, Horse, Goat, Monkey, Rooster, Dog and Pig. Each sign stands for one year in a 12-year cycle and carries its own personality, element and lucky colors. Every sign below also shows its Chinese character and pinyin, so you can say your animal in Mandarin.
Sharp-minded and resourceful, the Rat thrives on opportunity and turns small advantages into long-term wins.
Honest and methodical, the Ox builds success through steady effort and rarely shortcuts what matters.
Bold and magnetic, the Tiger leads from the front and inspires others to take the leap with them.
Refined and considerate, the Rabbit handles delicate situations with grace and avoids unnecessary conflict.
The most auspicious zodiac animal — ambitious, confident, and a natural leader who thinks in big arcs.
Insightful and observant, the Snake plays the long game and reads people better than they read themselves.
Free-spirited and energetic, the Horse needs movement and chafes against routines that don’t challenge them.
Quiet and artistic, the Goat brings warmth and creativity, often working best in supportive collaborative spaces.
Quick-witted and inventive, the Monkey solves problems creatively and rarely takes the obvious path.
Punctual and detail-oriented, the Rooster sees what others miss and tells you exactly what they think.
Loyal to a fault, the Dog defends the people they love and keeps their word even when it costs them.
Warm-hearted and generous, the Pig enjoys the good things in life and shares them freely with others.
Find your Chinese zodiac animal directly by birth year. Each row covers one animal across the modern cycles (1924–2031). Years before Chinese New Year fall under the previous animal — see the calculator above for date-precise lookups.
The Chinese zodiac year does not begin on January 1. It begins on Chinese New Year — a date that drifts between January 21 and February 20 depending on the lunar calendar.
If you were born in January or early February, your Chinese zodiac animal might belong to the previous year. For example, anyone born on January 15, 2026 is still a 蛇 Snake (2025), because Chinese New Year 2026 falls on February 17. The calculator above applies this cutoff automatically when you use "By Birth Date" mode.
Year-only zodiac calculators get this wrong roughly 10% of the time — anyone born in January or the first half of February.
Chinese New Year
2020 – 2030
| 鼠 | 牛 | 虎 | 兔 | 龙 | 蛇 | 马 | 羊 | 猴 | 鸡 | 狗 | 猪 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 鼠 | ||||||||||||
| 牛 | ||||||||||||
| 虎 | ||||||||||||
| 兔 | ||||||||||||
| 龙 | ||||||||||||
| 蛇 | ||||||||||||
| 马 | ||||||||||||
| 羊 | ||||||||||||
| 猴 | ||||||||||||
| 鸡 | ||||||||||||
| 狗 | ||||||||||||
| 猪 |
How each Chinese zodiac animal pairs with the other eleven. Find your animal in the left column, then read across to see your best matches (jade) and clashes (rose).
Want the full story for one pair? Check your Chinese zodiac compatibility in love, marriage, friendship and work.
Found your animal? Take it further. The Twelve Animals Within teaches you to type each character, hear native pronunciation, and master the personality vocabulary behind every zodiac sign.
Your Chinese zodiac sign is the animal of the lunar year you were born in. The 12 animals repeat every 12 years, and each zodiac year starts on Chinese New Year (between January 21 and February 20), not January 1. Enter your birth date in the calculator above to get your animal, element and compatible signs.
2026 is the Year of the Horse (马 mǎ), more precisely the Fire Horse. It runs from Chinese New Year on February 17, 2026 to February 5, 2027. Babies born in 2026 before February 17 are still Snakes.
2027 is the Year of the Goat (羊 yáng), more precisely the Fire Goat. It runs from Chinese New Year on February 6, 2027 to January 25, 2028. Babies born in 2027 before February 6 are still Horses.
Chinese New Year 2027 falls on Saturday, February 6, 2027, and starts the Year of the Goat. The date moves every year because it follows the lunar calendar: in 2026 it was February 17, 2026, and in 2028 it is January 26, 2028 (dates from the Hong Kong Observatory).
The 12 animals in order are: Rat (鼠), Ox (牛), Tiger (虎), Rabbit (兔), Dragon (龙), Snake (蛇), Horse (马), Goat (羊), Monkey (猴), Rooster (鸡), Dog (狗), and Pig (猪). The cycle repeats every 12 years; the most recent Year of the Rat was 2020, so 2032 is the next one.
If you were born before Chinese New Year of your birth year, your animal is the previous year’s. For example, someone born on January 20, 1990 is a Snake (1989), not a Horse, because Chinese New Year 1990 fell on January 27. Use "By Birth Date" in the calculator to apply the cutoff automatically.
Traditionally, the most compatible signs form four "triangles of affinity" (三合 sānhé): Rat–Dragon–Monkey, Ox–Snake–Rooster, Tiger–Horse–Dog, and Rabbit–Goat–Pig. Signs six years apart are said to clash (六冲 liùchōng), such as Rat and Horse or Dragon and Dog. The compatibility chart above shows every pair.
Your element comes from the last digit of your birth year: 0 or 1 is Metal, 2 or 3 Water, 4 or 5 Wood, 6 or 7 Fire, and 8 or 9 Earth. So 1988 is an Earth Dragon and 2026 a Fire Horse. Even years are Yang and odd years Yin. Remember the Chinese New Year cutoff for January and February births.
Each animal carries traditional personality traits: Dragons are seen as confident and ambitious, Rats as clever and resourceful, Tigers as bold and charismatic, Rabbits as gentle and kind. The calculator above shows the traits, lucky colors, lucky numbers and best matches for your animal.
No. The Chinese zodiac (生肖 shēngxiào) is the 12-animal cycle based on your birth year. Full Chinese astrology (BaZi, the Four Pillars) also uses your birth month, day and hour and the Five Elements. The calculator above covers the zodiac animal — the part most people ask about.
Our course "The Twelve Animals Within" teaches you to type and recognize all 12 zodiac animal characters with pinyin, native audio, and interactive practice. Each animal has its own lesson covering the character, personality vocabulary, and common expressions.