Which Zodiac Animal Is Your Birth Year?
Chinese zodiac years (生肖年份, shēng xiào nián fèn) are the twelve repeating years that each carry one animal: Rat, Ox, Tiger, Rabbit, Dragon, Snake, Horse, Goat, Monkey, Rooster, Dog and Pig. Your zodiac animal is the animal of the Chinese lunar year you were born in, so 1990 is a Horse year, 2000 is a Dragon year and 2027 is a Goat year. The lookup table below covers every birth year from 1960 to 2043.
Two details decide the answer for anyone born in January or February. The animal changes at Lunar New Year, not on 1 January, and a Bazi chart changes its year pillar at the Start of Spring, which can fall up to about two weeks before or after Lunar New Year. Both are explained further down. Once you know your animal, find your Day Master and the rest of your chart with the free Bazi calculator.
How Do You Work Out the Zodiac Animal for Any Birth Year?
Subtract 4 from the birth year, divide by 12 and read the remainder: 0 is the Rat, 1 the Ox, 2 the Tiger, 3 the Rabbit, 4 the Dragon, 5 the Snake, 6 the Horse, 7 the Goat, 8 the Monkey, 9 the Rooster, 10 the Dog and 11 the Pig. For 2027, 2027 minus 4 is 2023, and 2023 divided by 12 leaves a remainder of 7, so 2027 is a Goat year.
The remainder is the position of the year's Earthly Branch (地支, dì zhī), one of twelve fixed symbols that Chinese calendars use for years, months, days and hours. Each branch is tied to one animal, which is why the animals repeat every 12 years. The table lists the branch of each animal and every birth year in the range.
| Zodiac animal | Earthly Branch | Birth years from 1960 to 2043 |
|---|---|---|
| Rat | Zi (子, zǐ) | 1960, 1972, 1984, 1996, 2008, 2020, 2032 |
| Ox | Chou (丑, chǒu) | 1961, 1973, 1985, 1997, 2009, 2021, 2033 |
| Tiger | Yin (寅, yín) | 1962, 1974, 1986, 1998, 2010, 2022, 2034 |
| Rabbit | Mao (卯, mǎo) | 1963, 1975, 1987, 1999, 2011, 2023, 2035 |
| Dragon | Chen (辰, chén) | 1964, 1976, 1988, 2000, 2012, 2024, 2036 |
| Snake | Si (巳, sì) | 1965, 1977, 1989, 2001, 2013, 2025, 2037 |
| Horse | Wu (午, wǔ) | 1966, 1978, 1990, 2002, 2014, 2026, 2038 |
| Goat | Wei (未, wèi) | 1967, 1979, 1991, 2003, 2015, 2027, 2039 |
| Monkey | Shen (申, shēn) | 1968, 1980, 1992, 2004, 2016, 2028, 2040 |
| Rooster | You (酉, yǒu) | 1969, 1981, 1993, 2005, 2017, 2029, 2041 |
| Dog | Xu (戌, xū) | 1970, 1982, 1994, 2006, 2018, 2030, 2042 |
| Pig | Hai (亥, hài) | 1971, 1983, 1995, 2007, 2019, 2031, 2043 |
Add 12 to any year in a row to reach the next year of the same animal. Two more worked examples: 1985 minus 4 is 1981, which leaves a remainder of 1, so 1985 is an Ox year; 2007 minus 4 is 2003, which leaves 11, so 2007 is a Pig year.
The table works in both directions. Look up a birth year to find the animal, or pick an animal and read across to see every year that belongs to it, which helps when you want to work out which years a friend or relative's sign covers. Someone born in 1996 finds 1996 in the Rat row, and the next Rat years are 2008 and 2020.
The 12 animals combine with the ten Heavenly Stems into a 60-year cycle. The same animal returns every 12 years, but the same animal with the same stem returns only every 60 years: 1990 and 2050 are both Geng Wu (庚午, gēng wǔ) years, the Metal Horse.
Does the Zodiac Year Change on 1 January or at Lunar New Year?
The popular zodiac animal changes at Lunar New Year (春節, chūn jié), the first day of the first lunar month, which always falls between 21 January and 20 February. A person born on 10 February 2026 is still a Snake, because Lunar New Year 2026 fell on 17 February, and a person born on 20 February 2026 is a Horse. Recent dates are 22 January 2023, 10 February 2024, 29 January 2025, 17 February 2026 and 6 February 2027.
Bazi draws the line somewhere else. A Bazi chart sets its Year Pillar (年柱, nián zhù) at the Start of Spring (立春, lì chūn), a solar term that falls between 3 and 5 February. In 2027 it falls on 2027-02-04, two days before Lunar New Year on 2027-02-06. A baby born on 5 February 2027 is therefore a Horse in the popular zodiac but carries a Goat (未, wèi) year pillar in a Bazi chart. If you were born between 21 January and 20 February, check both dates; the year pillar guide shows how the Start of Spring sets the Bazi year.
What Are the Zodiac Animals of the Coming Years?
The six zodiac years from 2026 to 2031 run from the Fire Horse of 2026, the current year, to the Metal Pig of 2031. Each year also has a Heavenly Stem and an element, which is how Bazi names a year pillar.
| Year | Zodiac animal | Year pillar | Element and animal |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | Horse | Bing Wu (丙午, bǐng wǔ) | Fire Horse |
| 2027 | Goat | Ding Wei (丁未, dīng wèi) | Fire Goat |
| 2028 | Monkey | Wu Shen (戊申, wù shēn) | Earth Monkey |
| 2029 | Rooster | Ji You (己酉, jǐ yǒu) | Earth Rooster |
| 2030 | Dog | Geng Xu (庚戌, gēng xū) | Metal Dog |
| 2031 | Pig | Xin Hai (辛亥, xīn hài) | Metal Pig |
For the year ahead, read the 2027 Bazi forecast for the Fire Goat year and the sign-by-sign forecasts linked from it. For the year now ending, see the 2026 Fire Horse forecast.
Which Zodiac Animals Clash and Which Match?
In Bazi, two Earthly Branches six places apart on the cycle form a clash (沖, chōng). Because each animal sits on one branch, the clash pairs are fixed, and the zodiac year of a clash is the one people check first when they plan a wedding, a move or an opening.
| Animal | Clashes with |
|---|---|
| Rat | Horse |
| Ox | Goat |
| Tiger | Monkey |
| Rabbit | Rooster |
| Dragon | Dog |
| Snake | Pig |
A clash does not make a year bad by itself. In traditional practice it flags a year or a day to treat with care, and the full reading depends on the rest of the chart, so use the table as a first screen rather than a verdict.
One traditional way of matching works in groups of three. The three harmony groups (三合, sān hé) are Rat, Dragon and Monkey; Ox, Snake and Rooster; Tiger, Horse and Dog; and Rabbit, Goat and Pig. Animals in the same group are among those traditional matching treats as compatible. The three harmonies guide explains how the groups work inside a chart.
Is Your Zodiac Animal the Same as Your Bazi Chart?
No. For most birthdays your zodiac animal is the Earthly Branch of the year pillar alone. A Bazi chart has four pillars, for the year, month, day and hour of birth, and eight characters in all. The element that stands for you is your Day Master (日主, rì zhǔ), the Heavenly Stem of the day pillar, and it comes from your birth day, not your birth year. Two people born in the same year share an animal but rarely share a chart.
To read the animal of each pillar, start with the twelve Earthly Branches and the Chinese zodiac. To read the element that stands for you, start with the Day Master guide.
Where Does Bazi Fortune Fit After You Know Your Animal?
Bazi Fortune is an Android app on Google Play; there is no iPhone version yet. The free Bazi calculator on this site takes you from a birth year to the full four pillars, including the Day Master that the zodiac table cannot show.
Key Takeaways: Chinese Zodiac Years
- Your zodiac animal is the animal of the Chinese lunar year of your birth: subtract 4 from the year, divide by 12 and read the remainder, from 0 for the Rat to 11 for the Pig.
- The popular zodiac changes at Lunar New Year, which falls between 21 January and 20 February; 2027 starts on 6 February.
- A Bazi year pillar changes at the Start of Spring, 2027-02-04, so someone born on 5 February 2027 is a Horse in the zodiac and a Goat in the chart.
- Clash pairs are fixed: Rat and Horse, Ox and Goat, Tiger and Monkey, Rabbit and Rooster, Dragon and Dog, Snake and Pig.
- For most birthdays the animal is the year branch, one of eight characters in a chart; the Day Master comes from the birth day.
