Chinese Zodiac Calculator: Your Animal Sign & Element

Enter your birth date to find your Chinese zodiac animal and its element. If you were born near Chinese New Year, this handles the cut-off properly rather than guessing.

Enter your birth date. If you were born close to Chinese
New Year, this will show you both possibilities and explain why.



Please choose your date of birth.

Your Chinese zodiac sign

Quick Answer: Your Chinese zodiac sign is one of twelve animals on a repeating cycle, paired with one of five elements on a ten-year cycle, giving sixty combinations. The critical detail most calculators miss is that the zodiac year starts at Chinese New Year, between 21 January and 20 February — so anyone born in January or early February may belong to the previous year's animal.

How the Chinese Zodiac Works

The Chinese zodiac runs on a twelve-year cycle of animals, paired with a
five-element cycle that alternates yin and yang across ten years. Together they
produce a sixty-year cycle, so a Metal Rat year comes round only once every
sixty years.

Unlike Western astrology, which is based on the month of birth, the Chinese
zodiac is based on the year — which is what makes the new year cut-off so
important.

The Chinese New Year Problem

This is where most online calculators are simply wrong, and it is worth
understanding rather than trusting a confident answer.

The Chinese zodiac year does not begin on 1 January. It begins at Chinese
New Year, which is set by the lunisolar calendar and falls somewhere between
21 January and 20 February depending on the year.

So if you were born in January or the first three weeks of February, your
animal may well belong to the previous year. A calculator that gives you a
single confident answer for a 5 February birthday is guessing. This one shows
you both and tells you why — check the exact Chinese New Year date for
your birth year and you will know which is yours.

The Twelve Animals

  • Rat — quick, resourceful, spots the opening.
  • Ox — steady, patient, immovable once decided.
  • Tiger — bold, magnetic, acts on conviction.
  • Rabbit — gentle, diplomatic, conflict-averse.
  • Dragon — confident, ambitious, traditionally lucky.
  • Snake — private, wise, highly intuitive.
  • Horse — free-spirited, energetic, needs open ground.
  • Goat — creative, gentle, sensitive to atmosphere.
  • Monkey — clever, playful, solves problems sideways.
  • Rooster — precise, honest, hard-working.
  • Dog — loyal, principled, protective.
  • Pig — generous, sincere, at ease in themselves.

The Five Elements

The element shifts the animal considerably, which is why two people born
twelve years apart under the same animal can seem quite different.

  • Metal — resolve and structure; sharper, less movable.
  • Water — adaptability and depth; softer, more perceptive.
  • Wood — growth and generosity; expansive.
  • Fire — passion and visibility; amplifies everything.
  • Earth — stability and patience; grounds the animal.

What About Compatibility?

Traditional practice groups the animals into four trines of three that get
on naturally, and pairs each animal with an opposite six places away that is
said to clash.

Held lightly, that is a harmless and sometimes useful lens. Held tightly, it
becomes a reason to dismiss someone before meeting them, which no tradition
actually recommends.

More Free Spiritual Tools

All of them are collected on the free spiritual tools page.