Chinese Zodiac Calculator

1. Enter your birth year.
2. Read your zodiac animal, one of the twelve.
3. See the element and whether the year is yin or yang.
4. If born in January or early February, check the Chinese New Year note.

Here is what each result means:

The Chinese zodiac assigns an animal to each year in a repeating 12-year cycle: Rat, Ox, Tiger, Rabbit, Dragon, Snake, Horse, Goat, Monkey, Rooster, Dog and Pig. Your animal is set by the year you were born, and it is a well-loved part of Chinese and wider East Asian culture, especially around the Lunar New Year.

Layered on top of the animals is a cycle of five elements, wood, fire, earth, metal and water, each lasting two years. Every year is also either yin or yang, alternating each year. Combining the 12 animals with the 5 elements produces a grand 60-year cycle, called the sexagenary cycle, after which the same animal and element pairing returns.

One important detail is timing. The Chinese year does not begin on 1 January but at Chinese New Year, which falls in late January or February. This calculator uses the Gregorian year as a close approximation, so if you were born in January or the first days of February, your true animal may be the one from the previous year.

It maps your birth year onto the animal, element and yin-yang cycles.

1. The year, minus a reference offset, is divided by 12 to pick the animal.
2. The same offset divided within a 10-year span picks the element.
3. An even year is yang and an odd year is yin.

For the Western system, see the zodiac sign calculator, or find your age with the age calculator.

Take the birth year 2024.

Result: 2024 is the year of the Yang Wood Dragon. The animal is the Dragon, the element is Wood, and the year is yang. The year 1990 is a Yang Metal Horse, showing how the animal and element pair up.

The animals always follow the same fixed sequence.

Because the cycle is exactly twelve years, your animal repeats every twelve years. Add or subtract twelve from any year in the table to find other years with the same animal.

The two systems work in completely different ways.

The Western zodiac changes sign roughly every month within a year, while the Chinese zodiac changes animal once a year. Many people enjoy knowing both, since they capture different parts of a birth date.

The Birth Year

The animal, element and yin-yang all follow from the year, cycling on fixed schedules.

Chinese New Year

The year begins in late January or February, so early-year births can fall under the previous animal.

The 60-year Cycle

Animal and element together repeat only every 60 years, so the full pairing is less frequent than the animal alone.

Finding Your Animal

Look up your own or a friend's zodiac animal and element.

Lunar New Year

See which animal a coming year celebrates.

Culture and Fun

Explore the elements and the 60-year cycle for interest.

1. Ignoring Chinese New Year

A January or early February birth may belong to the previous year's animal, since the year starts later.

2. Forgetting the Element

The animal alone is only half the picture; the element completes the pairing.

3. Assuming a 12-year Full Cycle

The animal repeats every 12 years, but the animal-and-element pairing repeats only every 60.

4. Mixing Up Yin and Yang

Yang years are even and yin years are odd on the Gregorian approximation used here.

5. Confusing It with the Western Zodiac

The Chinese zodiac uses the birth year, not the month and day.

The animal, element and yin-yang follow the traditional cycles, using the Gregorian year as an approximation.

Enter your birth year and the calculator returns your animal, element and yin or yang. The year 2024, for example, is the Yang Wood Dragon.

In order: Rat, Ox, Tiger, Rabbit, Dragon, Snake, Horse, Goat, Monkey, Rooster, Dog and Pig. Each takes one year in a repeating 12-year cycle.

Wood, fire, earth, metal and water. Each element lasts two years, so together with the 12 animals they form a 60-year cycle.

Each year is either yin or yang, alternating every year. On the Gregorian approximation used here, even years are yang and odd years are yin.

The Chinese year starts at Chinese New Year in late January or February, not on 1 January. A birth before that date may fall under the previous year's animal.

2024 is the year of the Dragon, specifically the Yang Wood Dragon. The next Dragon year is 2036.

Your animal repeats every 12 years, but the full animal-and-element pairing, such as Wood Dragon, repeats only every 60 years.

No. The Chinese zodiac is set by the birth year, while the Western zodiac is set by the birth month and day.

No. The calculation runs in your browser and nothing you enter is stored or sent anywhere, unless you choose Save, which keeps the result only on this device.

• Chinese zodiac (Wikipedia).
• Sexagenary cycle (Wikipedia).
• Wu Xing (five elements) (Wikipedia).