๐ Chinese Zodiac Calculator
Enter a birth year and instantly find out which of the 12 Chinese zodiac animals it corresponds to. Handy for New Year card designs or for checking your own or a family member's zodiac animal.
How to use
- Enter a birth year.
- The matching zodiac animal is shown automatically.
How the calculation works
The Chinese zodiac is part of a 60-year cycle formed by combining 10 "heavenly stems" with 12 "earthly branches". People usually mean the 12 animals โ rat, ox, tiger and so on โ but this tool shows both. Earthly branches (animals): rat, ox, tiger, rabbit, dragon, snake, horse, goat, monkey, rooster, dog, pig, in a 12-year cycle. 1900 was a rat year, so the animal is the remainder of (year โ 1900) รท 12. Heavenly stems: a 10-year cycle (็ฒ, ไน, ไธ, ไธ, ๆ, ๅทฑ, ๅบ, ่พ, ๅฃฌ, ็ธ). The least common multiple of 10 and 12 is 60, so each combination (such as ็ฒๅญ) comes round every 60 years. That is why a 60th birthday, when the birth-year combination returns, is celebrated in Japan as kanreki.
Worked example
1984 โ ็ฒๅญ (kinoe-ne): the start of a 60-year cycle 2024 โ ็ฒ่พฐ (kinoe-tatsu), dragon 2025 โ ไนๅทณ (kinoto-mi), snake 2026 โ ไธๅ (hinoe-uma), horse The previous ไธๅ year, 1966, is known in Japan for a roughly 25% drop in births compared with the year before, due to superstition about the year.
Things to be aware of
- This tool changes the year on 1 January. Traditionally the zodiac year changes at the start of spring (around 4 February) or at the Lunar New Year, so people born in January or early February may belong to the previous year's animal.
- The twelfth animal is the boar in Japan but the pig in China.
- The year's animal is a common motif on Japanese New Year cards.
FAQ
What's the cycle length for the Chinese zodiac?
It repeats on a 12-year cycle in the order Rat, Ox, Tiger, Rabbit, Dragon, Snake, Horse, Goat, Monkey, Rooster, Dog, Pig.
Is this based on the lunar calendar or the start of spring?
No, this is a simplified version based directly on the Gregorian calendar year, which may differ from a strict calculation based on the lunar new year or the start of spring.
Does it work for years before 1900?
Yes, since the calculation uses a 12-year cycle, it works correctly for years before 1900 too.