There are 12 Chinese New Year animals, and each rules one year in a repeating cycle: Rat, Ox, Tiger, Rabbit, Dragon, Snake, Horse, Goat, Monkey, Rooster, Dog and Pig. The animal changes on Chinese New Year, not on January 1. The Year of the Goat begins on February 6, 2027, when the Year of the Horse ends.
What are the 12 animals, and which year is which?
The table covers one full cycle. The start date is the day of Chinese New Year; each year lasts until the day before the next one begins.
| Order | Animal | Year starts | Traditionally said to be |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Rat | January 25, 2020 | Quick-witted and resourceful |
| 2 | Ox | February 12, 2021 | Dependable, patient and hard-working |
| 3 | Tiger | February 1, 2022 | Brave, competitive and confident |
| 4 | Rabbit | January 22, 2023 | Gentle, kind and diplomatic |
| 5 | Dragon | February 10, 2024 | Ambitious, energetic and charismatic |
| 6 | Snake | January 29, 2025 | Wise, intuitive and calm |
| 7 | Horse | February 17, 2026 | Free-spirited, active and warm-hearted |
| 8 | Goat | February 6, 2027 | Calm, creative and caring |
| 9 | Monkey | January 26, 2028 | Clever, curious and playful |
| 10 | Rooster | February 13, 2029 | Observant, punctual and outspoken |
| 11 | Dog | February 3, 2030 | Loyal, honest and protective |
| 12 | Pig | January 23, 2031 | Generous, easygoing and sincere |
To find an earlier or later year, add or subtract 12. The Goat years, for example, are 2015, 2003, 1991 and 1979 going back, and 2039 going forward.
How do you find your own animal?
Start with your birth year, then look at the month. If you were born from March to December, the animal of that year is yours. If you were born in January or February, you need the exact date of the new year, because you may belong to the animal before.
Someone born on February 1, 2027, for instance, is a Horse: the Goat year does not begin until February 6. The tool below checks the date for you, for any birthday from 1900 on. It also lives on the Birthday Profile page.
Loading the tool…
Why these animals, and why in this order?
The story most children hear is the legend of the Great Race. The Jade Emperor announced a contest: the animals had to cross a great river, and the order in which they finished would be their order in the calendar. Details change from teller to teller, but the main beats are these:
- The Rat rode across on the back of the Ox and jumped ahead at the bank to take first place. The Ox came second.
- The Tiger, a strong swimmer, was third. The Rabbit hopped from rock to rock and drifted in on a log.
- The Dragon could have arrived sooner but stopped to make rain for the farmers' harvest. The Snake hid on the Horse and slipped ahead of it at the line.
- The Goat, the Monkey and the Rooster crossed together on a raft, helping one another, and finished eighth, ninth and tenth.
- The Dog and the Pig came in last.
In many versions the rat also pushes the cat into the water, which is offered as the reason there is no Year of the Cat. In other tellings it is the Buddha, not the Jade Emperor, who summons the animals. It is a folktale, and it is told as one.
How does the 60-year cycle work?
Each year in the traditional calendar has a two-part name. One part comes from a series of 12 signs, the earthly branches, and these are the ones matched with the animals. The other comes from a series of ten, the heavenly stems. Both move forward one step every new year. Because 10 and 12 share a common factor, only 60 of the possible pairings ever occur, and the full sequence repeats every 60 years.
The stems are grouped under five elements, each covering two years in a row. That is where names like "Fire Goat" come from. You can read the element from the last digit of the year:
| Year ends in | Element |
|---|---|
| 0 or 1 | Metal |
| 2 or 3 | Water |
| 4 or 5 | Wood |
| 6 or 7 | Fire |
| 8 or 9 | Earth |
So 2026 is a Fire Horse year, 2027 a Fire Goat year and 2028 an Earth Monkey year. As with the animal, January and February birthdays take the element of the year that was running on that date.
What does the Year of the Goat mean for the other signs?
Each new year, almanacs and newspapers publish forecasts for all 12 animals. They are built on a simple idea: the animal of the year is considered to be on good or bad terms with each of the others. In a Goat year, the Rabbit, the Pig and the Horse are traditionally counted as the Goat's allies, and the Ox, which sits opposite the Goat in the cycle, as its rival.
That scheme is folklore, and so are the forecasts drawn from it. Read them for fun, the way you might read a newspaper horoscope, and not as guidance for decisions. The logic of allies and opposites is laid out in our guide to Chinese zodiac compatibility.
Is the zodiac the same in every country?
Mostly. A 12-animal cycle is also used in Vietnam, among other places, and the years line up. The animals differ slightly: in the Vietnamese zodiac, the Water Buffalo takes the place of the Ox and the Cat takes the place of the Rabbit, so 2023 was a Year of the Cat there. The eighth sign is called a goat by some and a sheep by others; the story of that name is in Year of the Sheep, Goat or Ram?
For the year about to begin, see Year of the Goat 2027 and the Chinese New Year 2027 calendar. To go deeper into one sign, start with the Goat.