The 12 animals
| Animal | Recent years* | Known as |
|---|---|---|
| 🐀 Rat | 1984, 1996, 2008, 2020 | The Clever One |
| 🐂 Ox | 1985, 1997, 2009, 2021 | The Steady One |
| 🐅 Tiger | 1986, 1998, 2010, 2022 | The Brave One |
| 🐇 Rabbit | 1987, 1999, 2011, 2023 | The Gentle One |
| 🐉 Dragon | 1988, 2000, 2012, 2024 | The Dreamer |
| 🐍 Snake | 1989, 2001, 2013, 2025 | The Wise One |
| 🐎 Horse | 1990, 2002, 2014, 2026 | The Free Spirit |
| 🐐 Goat | 1991, 2003, 2015, 2027 | The Artist |
| 🐒 Monkey | 1992, 2004, 2016, 2028 | The Inventor |
| 🐓 Rooster | 1993, 2005, 2017, 2029 | The Achiever |
| 🐕 Dog | 1994, 2006, 2018, 2030 | The Loyal One |
| 🐖 Pig | 1995, 2007, 2019, 2031 | The Generous One |
* Each year starts on Lunar New Year, not 1 January.
The five elements
- Metal: determined and principled. Your resolve turns plans into reality.
- Water: adaptable and wise. Like water, you find a way around every rock.
- Wood: growing and generous. You grow, and you help everyone around you grow too.
- Fire: passionate and bold. Your spark lights up every room.
- Earth: grounded and reliable. You're the steady ground others build on.
What your animal and element mean
Your animal describes your general temperament, and your element adds a flavor: a Fire Horse and a Water Horse share the Horse's energy, but one leans passionate and the other adaptable. Yin and yang add a final shade, more outward in yang years and more inward in yin years. Twelve animals times five elements give sixty combinations, which is why the full Chinese cycle takes sixty years to come around again.
How the Chinese zodiac is viewed
In China and across East Asia, the zodiac animal is part of everyday life more than fortune-telling. People mention their animal when talking about age, Lunar New Year decorations and greetings celebrate the animal of the year, and some families still think about it when planning a wedding or a birth. Around the world, Lunar New Year has become one of the most widely celebrated festivals, with parades and lanterns in many big cities. The animal of the year also shows up on stamps, greeting cards and shop windows, and Dragon years in particular are often said to bring a small rise in births.
How it can help you
Compare animals with your family. Many households have a whole cast of animals around one table, and it's a lovely way to talk about each person's strengths. Use your animal's growth edge as a gentle reminder for the year, or send someone a Lunar New Year greeting for their own animal.
Why the exact date matters
Because the Chinese year starts on Lunar New Year, anyone born in January or early February can have a different animal from the one their birth year suggests. Our calculator checks the exact date for every year from 1900 to 2100, so the result is right even for those tricky birthdays.
An honest note
The zodiac describes, it doesn't decide. Traits are traditional associations, and no animal is better or luckier than another.