The 12 Chinese Zodiac Signs in Order

How the animal cycle works

The order is fixed and never varies: Rat, Ox, Tiger, Rabbit, Dragon, Snake, Horse, Goat, Monkey, Rooster, Dog, Pig. Knowing one year's animal is therefore enough to derive any other — twelve years before or after 2026, a Horse year, is another Horse year.

A sign is not decided by the Gregorian year, though. Each animal year runs from one Chinese New Year to the day before the next, and that boundary moves between 21 January and 20 February. Anyone born in January or early February belongs to the previous animal more often than not, which is the most common mistake in casual sign lookups. The year beside each animal below is its most recent one, counted the same way.

Each animal also carries one of five elements, advancing one phase every twelve years, so a full name such as Yang Fire Horse returns only once every sixty. If you know the birth date, the calculator resolves all of this at once; if you already know the sign, pick it below.