Your birth animal returns every twelve years. Enter a birth date to see each return, the age you reach in it, and the exact Chinese New Year dates it runs between.
When is the next Year of each animal?
Choose an animal to see its most recent and next year. This works whether or not it is your own birth animal.
What the year traditionally means
Traditional interpretation
A ben ming nian is widely treated as a year calling for care rather than boldness, and the best-known custom is wearing something red — a belt, a cord, or clothing — often given by a family member rather than bought for oneself. Practice varies widely by region and family.
This is cultural context, not a prediction. Only the boundaries, animal, element and dates on this page are calculated. The Chinese New Year dates come from the verified year and boundary tables used by every tool on this site.
Zodiac year questions
What is a ben ming nian?
Ben ming nian (本命年) is the return of the zodiac animal year a person was born under. Because the cycle has twelve animals, it comes round at roughly ages 12, 24, 36, 48 and 60. Tradition treats it as a year calling for care, and wearing something red is the best-known custom associated with it.
Why is the age shown as a range?
A zodiac year runs from one Chinese New Year to the day before the next, so it straddles two Gregorian years, and the boundary itself moves by up to a month. A person can therefore begin their own zodiac year having already had that year's birthday, or have it a few weeks into the year. Both ages are shown when a birthday falls inside the interval.
What makes the sixtieth year different?
Each year pairs an animal with a heavenly stem — a Yin or Yang form of Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal or Water. The animal returns every twelve years, but the animal and stem together only realign after sixty. That full Gan-Zhi return is why a sixtieth birthday is the traditional milestone.
Is a ben ming nian actually unlucky?
That is a traditional belief, not a calculated result and not a prediction. Only the calendar boundaries, animal, element and dates on this page are computed facts. The customs around the year are presented as cultural context.