Enter a birth date to get the Chinese zodiac animal, element and yin or yang. The tool checks the real Lunar New Year date for that year, so January and February birthdays come out right.
Year of the Earth Snake: February 6, 1989 to January 26, 1990
Runs in your browser. Nothing you type is sent anywhere. Dates from 1924 to early 2045 are supported.
This chinese zodiac calculator is for anyone who wants their animal sign, or a child’s or partner’s, without guessing at the January and February cut-off. You get the animal, the element, yin or yang, the zodiac year you belong to and the exact start and end dates of that year. It is cultural tradition and fun, not a scientific prediction.
How Do You Find Your Chinese Zodiac Animal?
Find the Lunar New Year date in your birth year. If you were born on or after it, your animal is that year’s sign; if before, use the previous year. For example, January 20, 1990 is before Lunar New Year on January 27, 1990, so the sign is the Earth Snake of 1989, not the Metal Horse.
Why Does the Chinese Zodiac Year Start at Lunar New Year?
The Chinese zodiac follows the traditional lunisolar calendar, whose year begins at Lunar New Year, not on January 1. The new year falls on the new moon that usually comes second after the winter solstice, which puts it between January 21 and February 20. So anyone born in January or early February may belong to the previous animal year. A simple “year minus 4, divided by 12” shortcut gets these birthdays wrong, which is why this tool stores the real start date for every year from 1924 to 2044, checked against the Hong Kong Observatory conversion tables.
How Are the Animal and Element Worked Out?
The animal repeats every 12 years and the element every 10 years, so together they repeat every 60 years.
element = (zodiac year − 4) mod 10 → Wood, Wood, Fire, Fire, Earth, Earth, Metal, Metal, Water, Water
even result = yang, odd result = yin
The 12 animals stand for the 12 Earthly Branches. The elements come from the 10 Heavenly Stems, which pair the five elements (wood, fire, earth, metal and water) with yin and yang. Combining one stem and one branch gives the 60 year sexagenary cycle, so the Wood Rat came in 1924 and 1984 and returns in 2044.
When Is Lunar New Year Each Year?
Lunar New Year moves between late January and mid February. These dates come from the same table the tool uses:
| Year | Lunar New Year | Sign |
|---|---|---|
| 2016 | February 8 | Fire Monkey |
| 2017 | January 28 | Fire Rooster |
| 2018 | February 16 | Earth Dog |
| 2019 | February 5 | Earth Pig |
| 2020 | January 25 | Metal Rat |
| 2021 | February 12 | Metal Ox |
| 2022 | February 1 | Water Tiger |
| 2023 | January 22 | Water Rabbit |
| 2024 | February 10 | Wood Dragon |
| 2025 | January 29 | Wood Snake |
| 2026 | February 17 | Fire Horse |
| 2027 | February 6 | Fire Goat |
| 2028 | January 26 | Earth Monkey |
| 2029 | February 13 | Earth Rooster |
| 2030 | February 3 | Metal Dog |
| 2031 | January 23 | Metal Pig |
Is the Chinese Zodiac the Same as the Western Zodiac?
No, the Chinese zodiac assigns an animal to a whole year, while the Western zodiac assigns a sign to a month long slice of the year. A person born on January 20, 1990 is an Earth Snake in the Chinese system and a Capricorn or Aquarius on the cusp in the Western one. You can check the Western sign alongside this, or work out how old someone is in years and days with the age calculator. To convert dates to another lunar based calendar, the Hijri date converter handles the Islamic calendar.
Worked Example
Mei was born on January 20, 1990. Many charts list 1990 as the Year of the Horse, but enter her birth date here and the tool shows Earth Snake, yin, zodiac year 1989. The reason is that Lunar New Year 1990 fell on January 27, a week after her birthday, and the Earth Snake year ran from February 6, 1989 to January 26, 1990. Her brother, born on July 25, 1990, gets Metal Horse, yang. To see how many days apart the two birthdays are, use the days between dates calculator.
How Do You Use the Chinese Zodiac Calculator?
Enter the birth date
Pick or type a birth date between February 1924 and February 2045.
Read the animal and element
The big text shows the element and animal, such as Earth Snake.
Check the Lunar New Year note
The line below says if the date falls before or after that year's Lunar New Year.
See the details
The boxes show animal, element, yin or yang and zodiac year, with the year's exact dates.
Frequently Asked Questions
What Chinese zodiac is 2026?
2026 is the Year of the Fire Horse, a yang year. It started on February 17, 2026 and runs until February 5, 2027. Anyone born between those dates is a Fire Horse.
What is my Chinese zodiac if I was born in January?
You probably belong to the previous year's animal. Lunar New Year never falls before January 21, so a January 1 to 20 birthday always takes the earlier year's sign. Later January dates depend on that year's exact new year date.
What is my Chinese zodiac if I was born on February 10, 1985?
February 10, 1985 is a Wood Rat. Lunar New Year 1985 came late, on February 20, so that birthday still belongs to the 1984 Wood Rat year, not the 1985 Wood Ox year.
What is the order of the 12 Chinese zodiac animals?
The order is Rat, Ox, Tiger, Rabbit, Dragon, Snake, Horse, Goat, Monkey, Rooster, Dog and Pig. The cycle then starts again, so every animal returns every 12 years, for example Dragon in 2012 and 2024.
Why are some years Goat and others Sheep or Ram?
They are the same sign. The Chinese word yang can mean goat, sheep or ram, so books translate it differently. This tool uses Goat, and 2027 is a Fire Goat year starting on February 6, 2027.
How often does my exact animal and element come back?
Every 60 years. The 12 animals and 10 element stems line up again after 60 years, so a Metal Horse from 1990 shares the same sign with someone born in 1930 after Lunar New Year.
Sources and Further Reading
- Hong Kong Observatory: Gregorian-Lunar calendar conversion table
- Encyclopaedia Britannica: Chinese calendar
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Last reviewed: October 2026