Chinese Zodiac Finder
Find your Chinese zodiac animal and element from your full date of birth, using the exact Chinese New Year cut-off — plus traits, compatibility and the hour animal.
For entertainment only — zodiac traits and compatibility are folklore, not science.
Pick a date between 31 January 1900 and 31 December 2050 — your sign appears as you type.
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- Zodiac animal
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- Element & polarity
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- Zodiac year
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- Stem–branch (60-year cycle)
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- Chinese New Year of that year
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- Hour animal (inner sign)
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Personality in folklore
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- Best matches (trine)
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- Secret friend (six harmony)
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- Clash (opposite sign)
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- Lucky numbers
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- Lucky colours
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- Season / fixed element
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Other years of this animal
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All twelve signs
| # | Animal | Chinese | Branch | Recent years |
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How it works
The Chinese zodiac (shēngxiào) runs on a twelve-year cycle of animals, paired with a
ten-year cycle of five elements in yin and yang form. Together they make the sexagenary
(60-year) stem–branch cycle. This tool uses the standard arithmetic: the earthly branch is
(year − 4) mod 12 — 0 is Rat, 4 is Dragon, 11 is Pig — and the heavenly stem is
(year − 4) mod 10, where stems 0–1 are Wood, 2–3 Fire, 4–5 Earth, 6–7 Metal and
8–9 Water, even stems being yang and odd stems yin. So 1984 is Jiǎ-Zǐ, the Yang Wood Rat that
opens the cycle, and 2024 is Jiǎ-Chén, the Yang Wood Dragon.
The catch most calculators get wrong is the cut-off. A Chinese zodiac year does not start on 1 January — it starts on Chinese New Year, the second new moon after the winter solstice, which lands anywhere between 21 January and 21 February. Someone born on 5 February 2024 is still a Rabbit, because the Dragon year only began on 10 February 2024. This page carries a lookup table of the exact Chinese New Year date for every year from 1900 to 2050 and applies it automatically, telling you when your date falls on the far side of the boundary.
Add your birth hour and you also get the inner or hour animal from the twelve double-hour shíchen (the Rat hour spans 23:00–00:59, and each following animal covers two hours). Traits, trines, clashes, lucky numbers and colours come from the traditional folklore lists and are here for fun. Everything is computed in your browser — your birth date is never uploaded, stored or sent anywhere, and there are no ads or sign-ups.
Frequently asked questions
What is my Chinese zodiac sign?
Enter your full date of birth and the tool returns your animal from the twelve-year cycle — Rat, Ox, Tiger, Rabbit, Dragon, Snake, Horse, Goat, Monkey, Rooster, Dog or Pig. The earthly branch is (year − 4) mod 12, so 1990 gives branch 6, the Horse, and 2024 gives branch 4, the Dragon. It also shows your element and polarity from the heavenly stem, making 1990 a Yang Metal Horse and 2024 a Yang Wood Dragon.
Does the Chinese zodiac year start on 1 January?
No, and this is where most quick calculators go wrong. A zodiac year begins on Chinese New Year, the second new moon after the winter solstice, which falls anywhere between 21 January and 21 February. Someone born on 5 February 2024 is a Water Rabbit, not a Dragon, because the Dragon year only started on 10 February 2024. This tool carries the exact new year date for every year from 1900 to 2050 and tells you on screen when your date sits on the far side of the boundary.
What is my Chinese zodiac element?
Each animal is paired with one of five elements — Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal or Water — in a yang and then a yin year, which is why the same animal-and-element combination only repeats every sixty years. The element comes from the heavenly stem, (year − 4) mod 10, so 1984 is the Yang Wood Rat that opens the sexagenary cycle and 2025 is the Yin Wood Snake. The tool shows the element, the polarity and the stem-branch name with its position in the sixty-year cycle.