Chinese zodiac · Lunar calendar
Chinese Zodiac Calculator
Find your animal and year element from your birthday, including the Lunar New Year boundary.
Why the full birthday matters
The Chinese zodiac year begins on Lunar New Year in this calculator. In 2026 that date is February 17. A person born on February 16 belongs to the Wood Snake year; someone born on February 17 belongs to the Fire Horse year.
| Lunar New Year | Born the day before | Born that day |
|---|---|---|
| February 10, 2024 | Water Rabbit | Wood Dragon |
| January 29, 2025 | Wood Dragon | Wood Snake |
| February 17, 2026 | Wood Snake | Fire Horse |
Questions about your result
How is my Chinese zodiac element calculated?
The lunar year's heavenly stem gives its element. The ten stems form pairs of Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal and Water, alternating Yang and Yin. Combined with the twelve animals, they repeat over a sixty-year cycle.
Why does my BaZi chart show a different animal?
BaZi commonly changes its year pillar at Li Chun, the Start of Spring solar term. That date can fall before or after Lunar New Year. Birthdays between the two boundaries can therefore have different year signs. This page labels the Lunar New Year convention; the BaZi calculator uses the chart's solar-term convention.
Is my year element the same as my Day Master?
Your year element comes from the year stem. Your Day Master comes from the day stem. They can differ. A full birth chart considers all four pillars before discussing its element distribution.
Do I need my birth time?
No. This cultural year-sign lookup uses your recorded Gregorian birthday. It does not convert your birth time between time zones or calculate a full astrological chart.
Can I check compatibility after finding my sign?
Yes. Use the Chinese zodiac compatibility chart to compare the two animals. Those traditional pairings describe only the year-sign layer and do not determine a relationship's outcome.
Calendar method and sources
This free tool supports Gregorian dates from 1901 through 2099. It uses the site's existing lunar calendar library, with Lunar New Year test dates checked against the Hong Kong Observatory conversion tables. The Observatory notes that a few far-future lunar dates may differ by a day when a new moon falls close to midnight. Reviewed September 28, 2026.