Chinese Zodiac

Finding your Chinese zodiac animal looks simple: each year maps to one of 12 animals (Rat, Ox, Tiger, Rabbit, Dragon, Snake, Horse, Goat, Monkey, Rooster, Dog and Pig) and the cycle repeats. Type a birth year, or any year you are curious about, and the tool shows the animal and its symbol immediately; change the number and the result follows along. No forms, no sign-up, nothing to install.

The catch is where the year begins: the Chinese calendar is lunisolar, and its new year falls anywhere between January 21 and February 20, shifting every year. Anyone born in January or early February may actually belong to the previous year's animal. In 2024, for instance, the Year of the Dragon only started on February 10, so someone born on February 5 that year is a Rabbit. This tool works from the Western calendar year alone, so those borderline cases deserve a second check.

For birthdays from March onward, the direct answer is reliable. For January and February dates, look up the exact Chinese New Year date of the birth year before settling on the animal. Worth knowing: the full traditional cycle spans 60 years, pairing the 12 animals with 5 elements (wood, fire, earth, metal and water); this page shows the animal only. The whole lookup runs in your browser, with nothing sent to a server.