1972: Year of the Water Rat
The 1972 Chinese zodiac year is the Yang Water Rat, and it runs from 15 February 1972 to 2 February 1973 — not from 1 January.
- Animal
- Rat 鼠
- Element and polarity
- Yang Water
- Gan-Zhi
- Ren Zi 壬子
- Age this zodiac year
- Born in 1972, a person turns 54 during the 2026 year
Born early in 1972? You may be Pig, not Rat
Chinese New Year 1972 fell on 15 February 1972. Anyone born between 1 January 1972 and 14 February 1972 — a window of 45 days — belongs to the 1971 zodiac year, the Yin Metal Pig, and not to the Rat.
Check an exact birth date against the 15 February 1972 boundary.
Exact 1972 zodiac year dates
The 1972 lunar year ran its ordinary twelve months, 354 days in total.
Other Rat years around 1972
| Rat year | Complete name | Begins |
|---|---|---|
| 1936 | Yang Fire Rat | 24 January 1936 |
| 1948 | Yang Earth Rat | 10 February 1948 |
| 1960 | Yang Metal Rat | 28 January 1960 |
| 1984 | Yang Wood Rat | 2 February 1984 |
| 1996 | Yang Fire Rat | 19 February 1996 |
| 2008 | Yang Earth Rat | 7 February 2008 |
The exact pairing 壬子 — Yang Water Rat — returns only once every sixty years: 1912, 2032, 2092.