The Year of the Sheep, the Year of the Goat and the Year of the Ram are one and the same: the eighth sign of the Chinese zodiac. English has three names because the Chinese word for the sign, yang (羊), means both sheep and goat. The next such year runs from February 6, 2027 to January 25, 2028.
Why are there three names for one sign?
In English, a sheep and a goat are different animals with different words. In Chinese, they share one. Yang on its own is a general term for this family of horned, cud-chewing animals. To be specific, a speaker adds a word in front of it:
| Chinese | Literal meaning | English |
|---|---|---|
| yang (羊) | the general word | sheep or goat |
| mianyang (绵羊) | "cotton yang" | sheep |
| shanyang (山羊) | "mountain yang" | goat |
The zodiac year is simply yang nian, "the yang year." Nothing in the name says which animal is meant, so every translator has to pick one. Some pick Sheep, some pick Goat, and some pick Ram, a male sheep.
What do Chinese scholars say?
When the last such year began, in February 2015, the question was put to several of them by the Xinhua news agency. The answers were relaxed.
- The historian Huang Yang explained that when the zodiac took shape, the Chinese language did not separate sheep from goats, and neither did the rituals in which the animals were offered. He leaned toward goat, on the grounds that goats were the more common livestock among the Han Chinese, whose tradition the zodiac is.
- The folklorist Fang Binggui said that people simply draw the animal they know best: often a sheep in the north of China and a goat in the south.
- Xinhua itself observed that few people in China were troubled by the distinction, and that the debate was livelier in the West.
Victor Mair, a professor of Chinese at the University of Pennsylvania, noticed the same split in the new year greetings he received in 2015: those from southern China tended to say "goat," and those from the north "sheep." His own solution, borrowed from archaeology, is the word "ovicaprid," which covers both animals. He uses it whenever a Chinese text does not make clear which one is meant.
Which name do other countries use?
It depends on the language and the publication. The Korea Herald, writing in English ahead of 2015, called the coming year the Year of the Sheep while noting that the Chinese term is an inclusive one and that both translations are correct. The Hong Kong Observatory labels 2027 "year of the Goat" in its official calendar tables.
In the US and the UK all three are in use. In 2015 the Penn Museum in Philadelphia welcomed "the Year of the Sheep," while other institutions and newspapers announced the Goat or the Ram for the very same day.
Does the name change the meaning of the sign?
No. The dates, the place in the cycle and the traditional character of the sign are identical whichever word you use. People born in the year are traditionally said to be gentle, polite and fond of art and beauty, a description that suits the popular image of a sheep and a goat equally well.
The animal has warm associations in Chinese culture. The character 羊 forms part of the written characters for "beautiful" (美), "good" (善) and "auspicious" (祥), a point Mair makes in his discussion of the word.
One thing the name does not carry is the mischief the goat has in Western folklore, or the idea of sheep as followers. Those are European associations, and they do not belong to the zodiac sign.
Which word should you use?
- In a card or a greeting: any of the three. "Happy Year of the Goat" and "Happy Year of the Sheep" are both fine. If you know which one your friend or their family uses, match it.
- For a child's birth sign: whichever the family prefers. A baby born in 2027 can be called a Goat or a Sheep with equal accuracy.
- In writing for a wide audience: pick one and mention the other once, as in "the Year of the Goat (also called the Sheep)."
We use Goat across this site, following the Hong Kong Observatory.
When is the Year of the Sheep, Goat or Ram?
| Year | Starts | Ends |
|---|---|---|
| 1967 | February 9, 1967 | January 29, 1968 |
| 1979 | January 28, 1979 | February 15, 1980 |
| 1991 | February 15, 1991 | February 3, 1992 |
| 2003 | February 1, 2003 | January 21, 2004 |
| 2015 | February 19, 2015 | February 7, 2016 |
| 2027 | February 6, 2027 | January 25, 2028 |
| 2039 | January 24, 2039 | February 11, 2040 |
If your birthday falls in January or February, your sign may be the one before. Enter the date to check.
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Earlier years, the five element types and the traits linked with the sign are in our guide to the Goat in the Chinese zodiac. For the year ahead, with its dates and customs, see Year of the Goat 2027, and for the other 11 signs, Chinese New Year animals.