🐾 Chinese Zodiac Calculator: What Is My Animal?

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What Is My Chinese Zodiac Animal?

Your Chinese zodiac animal comes from the lunar year you were born in: Rat, Ox, Tiger, Rabbit, Dragon, Snake, Horse, Goat, Monkey, Rooster, Dog or Pig, repeating every 12 years. 1990, 2002 and 2014 are Horse years; 2000 is a Dragon. Born in January or early February? Check the Lunar New Year date; you may be the previous animal.

How to Use the Chinese Zodiac Calculator

1. Enter your date of birth.
2. See your animal, element and yin or yang, the traditional lucky numbers and colours, and your harmony signs.
3. Use the compatibility checker to compare two animals, or scroll the years chart to look up any year from 1948 to 2031.

Born in January or February? Check Lunar New Year

The Chinese zodiac year starts at Lunar New Year, which falls between 21 January and 20 February. The calculator uses your calendar year, so if you were born before that year's Lunar New Year, your animal is the previous year's.

Example: someone born on 3 February 2000 was born before Lunar New Year (5 February), so they're a Rabbit (1999), not a Dragon.

How the Animal and Element Are Worked Out

• Animal: a 12-year cycle. 1900 was a Rat year, so count forward in steps of 12.
• Element: set by the last digit of the year: 0–1 Metal, 2–3 Water, 4–5 Wood, 6–7 Fire, 8–9 Earth.
• Yin or yang: even years are yang, odd years yin.
• Animal and element together repeat every 60 years, so 2026 is the Fire Horse, last seen in 1966.

Chinese Zodiac Compatibility

Tradition groups the animals into four harmony triads: Rat, Dragon and Monkey; Ox, Snake and Rooster; Tiger, Horse and Dog; Rabbit, Goat and Pig. It also pairs six "clash" opposites six years apart, such as Rat–Horse and Ox–Goat. These are cultural beliefs, fun to explore, but not a real guide to relationships.

Read more about 2026, the Year of the Fire Horse and how to find your animal by birth year. For your Western sign, birthstone and more, see the birthstone and zodiac profile or the all-in-one birthday calculator.

Who Uses the Chinese Zodiac Calculator?

• Lunar New Year: find your animal and this year's animal for cards and celebrations.
• Family fun: check everyone's animal and the compatibility between signs.
• January and February birthdays: get the right animal by checking the Lunar New Year date for your year.

How the Chinese Zodiac Calculator Saves You Time

Looking up the animal for a January or February birthday means checking that year's Lunar New Year date. The calculator does that check for you and adds the element and compatibility.