8 October 2026

12 Chinese Zodiac Signs

Jade Observatory tool

Chinese Zodiac Sign Calculator

This Chinese zodiac calculator covers birth dates from 1901–2099. It finds your animal, year element, fixed branch element and Day Master, then compares the Chinese New Year and Li Chun year boundaries for your exact date.

Gregorian dates from 1901-02-19 to 2100-02-08.

One result, several coordinates

Similar words do not mean the same thing

“Element” can appear more than once because the calendar is describing different positions. The result labels the source of each value before it offers a deeper interpretation.

Year-stem elementWhich quality changes with this zodiac year?
The year’s heavenly stem supplies Yin or Yang plus Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal, or Water.
Compare the five elements →
Animal fixed elementWhich element stays with the branch?
Every earthly branch keeps an intrinsic element even when the year stem changes.
See fixed branch elements →
Day masterWhat is the first character of this date’s day pillar?
It is another heavenly stem, calculated from the exact date rather than borrowed from the zodiac year.
Understand the day pillar →
Na Yin associationWhich named classification belongs to the two-year pair?
Na Yin is reported on its own line so it is not mistaken for either the year-stem element or the animal’s fixed element.
See why Na Yin is separate →

Worked year-name reading

What “2015: Yin Wood Goat” actually says

A date inside the zodiac year from 19 February 2015 to 7 February 2016 first belongs to the Goat year. The year’s two-character coordinate then supplies the rest of the name.

Open the complete 2015 year record →
Heavenly stem乙

Yi

Yin Wood

Earthly branch未

Wei

Goat

Complete year name乙未

Yin Wood Goat

Gan-Zhi Yi Wei

Branch’s fixed elementEarthstays with Goat

Na Yin沙中金 · Metala separate pair classification

Day masterCalculated after a date is enteredcomes from the date’s day stem

The sixty-year cycle

Or look up a year

If you only need the year rather than an exact birth date, each year has its own page with its animal, element and the exact Chinese New Year dates it runs between.

Using the calculator

Calculator questions

Why does the calculator not use January 1?

The Chinese zodiac is tied to the lunar calendar. A zodiac year starts at Chinese New Year, which falls between 21 January and 20 February, so anyone born in January or early February must be checked against that year's boundary rather than the Gregorian year.

What dates can I enter?

The calculator covers every birth date from 1901-02-19 through 2100-02-08.

Why does the result show three element coordinates?

The year-stem element belongs to the birth year's heavenly stem, the fixed element belongs to the animal's earthly branch, and the day master comes from the birth date's day stem. They describe different positions and should not be collapsed into one label.

What is the Na Yin name?

Na Yin is a named element association attached to each two-year stem-and-branch pair in the sixty-year cycle. It is another classification, so the result keeps it separate from both the year-stem element and the animal's fixed element.

Calendar sources and conventions