🐉 Chinese Zodiac & Age by Birth Year
Type a birth year to see the zodiac animal, element, age before and after this year's birthday, and school grade. A full year-by-year chart is below.
Year-by-year zodiac & age chart (for the year of the date above)
How to use it
Enter a birth year and the calculator shows the zodiac animal, element, age and typical school grade for the year of the "as of" date (today by default). Change the date to answer questions like "how old will she be next year?" The year-by-year chart below lists everyone born from 1940 to this year, with your year highlighted.
Chinese zodiac animals by year
The zodiac (shared by China, Korea, Vietnam and Japan, with small differences) assigns one of twelve animals to each year in a fixed order: Rat, Ox, Tiger, Rabbit, Dragon, Snake, Horse, Goat, Monkey, Rooster, Dog, Pig.
| Animal | Recent years |
|---|---|
| 🐭 Rat (子) | 1984 · 1996 · 2008 · 2020 |
| 🐮 Ox (丑) | 1985 · 1997 · 2009 · 2021 |
| 🐯 Tiger (寅) | 1986 · 1998 · 2010 · 2022 |
| 🐰 Rabbit (卯) | 1987 · 1999 · 2011 · 2023 |
| 🐲 Dragon (辰) | 1988 · 2000 · 2012 · 2024 |
| 🐍 Snake (巳) | 1989 · 2001 · 2013 · 2025 |
| 🐴 Horse (午) | 1990 · 2002 · 2014 · 2026 |
| 🐑 Goat / Sheep (未) | 1991 · 2003 · 2015 · 2027 |
| 🐵 Monkey (申) | 1992 · 2004 · 2016 · 2028 |
| 🐔 Rooster (酉) | 1993 · 2005 · 2017 · 2029 |
| 🐶 Dog (戌) | 1994 · 2006 · 2018 · 2030 |
| 🐷 Pig (亥) | 1995 · 2007 · 2019 · 2031 |
How the animal and element are calculated
The twelve earthly branches (the animals) pair with ten heavenly stems to form a 60-year cycle. Year 4 AD was the start of a cycle (甲子, Jia-zi, a Wood Rat year), so the animal is (year − 4) mod 12 and the stem is (year − 4) mod 10. Each pair of stems maps to one of the five elements — Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal, Water — with the first of each pair Yang and the second Yin. That is why 2026 (丙午, Bing-wu) is the year of the Fire Horse. In Korea the same elements are described by color — blue, red, golden, white and black — so 2026 is called the year of the "red horse."
Born in January or early February?
This chart uses the calendar (Gregorian) year. Traditionally the zodiac year begins at Lunar New Year, which falls between January 21 and February 20; Korean saju (four pillars) uses Ipchun, around February 4. If you were born before that date, many people would say you belong to the previous year's animal.
Ages: Western age, year age and Korean counting age
- Age before / after birthday — the international age everyone uses on documents. If you know only the birth year, it is one of these two numbers.
- Year age —
current year − birth year, the same as your age after this year's birthday. South Korea still uses it in a few laws (for example the age limit for buying alcohol and tobacco). - Korean counting age (세는 나이) — you are 1 at birth and gain a year every January 1, so it is
current year − birth year + 1. Since June 2023, South Korea officially uses international age in law and public documents, but you may still hear counting age socially.
School grade
The US grade assumes a child starts kindergarten in the fall after turning 5, with a September 1 cutoff — so it is accurate for children born January to August; those born September to December are usually a grade lower. States set their own cutoff dates, and redshirting or skipping a grade is not reflected. The Korean grade uses Korea's rule that everyone born January 1 – December 31 shares a grade and starts elementary school in March of the year they turn 7 (international age 6).
Zodiac signs here follow the solar calendar year and general convention; results based on the lunar calendar or solar terms can differ for January–February births. For legal age questions, check the rules that apply where you live.