Chinese zodiac calculator
Your Chinese zodiac animal depends on the lunar year you were born in, and the lunar year starts at Chinese New Year, somewhere between 21 January and 20 February. That is why a birthday in January or early February often belongs to the previous animal, and why year-only tables get it wrong. Enter the full date and this calculator counts it properly: the animal, the element of the year (Metal, Water, Wood, Fire or Earth), yin or yang, the date in the lunar calendar, and when your animal’s year comes round again.
- Year
- Element
- Yin or yang
- Earthly branch
- Hours of the animal
- Lunar birthday
- Best company
- Your next year
Make the poster
Your animal in ink, the lunar date, and your name. Add a Chinese name and it is set as a round seal.
How it works
Enter the day, month and year you were born.
Read your animal, its element and yin-yang, and your birthday in the lunar calendar.
Make a poster with the animal painted in ink wash and your name beneath it, if you like.
Questions
Why does my animal differ from the one in a table?
Tables list the Gregorian year. The zodiac follows the lunar year, which begins at Chinese New Year, so January and early-February birthdays belong to the previous animal. The calculator uses the exact New Year date for your year.
What is the element of a zodiac year?
Each year also carries one of five elements from the heavenly stem of the year. The same animal returns every twelve years with a different element, so a Fire Horse (2026) and a Metal Horse (1990) are both Horses with a different flavour; the full cycle is sixty years.
Is the zodiac a prediction?
We present the traditional associations of each animal as culture, not prediction. The dates and the lunar calendar maths are exact; the traits are what two thousand years of folklore say.
Read more
- How Chinese names work: surname first, then one or two charactersA Chinese name is a one-character family name followed by a given name of one or two characters, each with a meaning. How the parts fit, how they are spoken and written, and what makes a name sound real.