Tools
What Chinese zodiac sign am I?
Your sign depends on your date of birth, not only the year. The finder reads the lunar new year of your birth year and gives the animal, the element and your lunar birthday.
What Chinese zodiac sign am I?
Born February 10, 1985
Wood Rat
| Stem-branch | Jia-Zi 甲子, yang |
| Lunar birth date | day 21 of the 12th month, 1984 |
| That lunar year: February 2, 1984 to February 19, 1985 | |
| With the other rule | Wood Ox |
This birthday falls between Spring Commences and the lunar new year: the two rules give different animals.
All about the year of the RatYour Chinese zodiac sign is the animal of the lunar year in which you were born, and a lunar year starts on the lunar new year, a date that moves between January 21 and February 20. For anyone born from March to December, the Gregorian year gives the right animal. For January and February birthdays, it can be wrong: in 1985 the lunar new year fell on February 20, 1985, so a person born on February 10, 1985 is a Wood Rat of the 1984 year, not an Ox. A second rule exists. Four Pillars astrologers start the year at Spring Commences, a solar term near February 4, and the Hong Kong Observatory notes that fortune-tellers use it, while the Observatory itself changes the year at the lunar new year. The finder above applies either rule to the date from the Observatory's tables.
New year or Spring Commences?
1985: the two start dates
16 days apart
| Lunar new year | Feb 20, 1985 |
| Spring Commences | Feb 4, 1985 |
| Births with two answers | Feb 4, 1985 to Feb 19, 1985 |
Dates read in the HKO tables by Radif Partners · Editorial policy · Method and sources
The three steps
First, find the lunar new year of your Gregorian birth year in the table of dates. Second, if your birthday is on or after that date, take the animal of that year; if it is before, take the animal of the year before. Third, read the element from the last digit of the lunar year: 0 or 1 is Metal, 2 or 3 Water, 4 or 5 Wood, 6 or 7 Fire, 8 or 9 Earth. The finder does the three steps for you and also gives your lunar birthday, the day and month of the Chinese calendar on which you were born.
Where the two rules disagree
Spring Commences falls on February 3, 4 or 5, while the lunar new year can fall weeks before or after. When the new year is late, as in 1985, 2007 or 2026, births between the term and the new year get one animal under each rule. When it is early, as in 2023, the gap runs the other way: a person born on January 25, 2023 is a Rabbit by the new year rule, but still a Tiger until February 4, 2023 by the solar rule.
Which animal is this year?
Lunar year starting in 2007
Fire Pig
| Starts | February 18, 2007 |
| Ends | February 6, 2008 |
| Stem-branch | Ding-Hai 丁亥 |
| Yin or yang | yin |
Why the date of the new year moves
The Chinese calendar is lunisolar. Its months start on the day of the new moon, and the new year is the second new moon after the winter solstice in most years. The Hong Kong Observatory explains that twelve lunar months add up to about 354 days, eleven days short of a solar year, so a leap month is added seven times in nineteen years to keep the calendar in step with the seasons. That is why the new year drifts back by about eleven days from one year to the next, then jumps forward by about nineteen days after a leap year.
Signs abroad
The calendar dates on this site are those of the Chinese calendar as published by the Observatory. A birth recorded in a US hospital on the evening of the eve can fall on the new year's day in China, because of the time difference. Families who want the strict rule use the date of birth in China's time zone; most people simply use the local date of birth, which is what the finder does.