# Chinese Zodiac Calculator: Find Your Animal, Element & Match

Find your Chinese zodiac animal and element from your date of birth, using exact Chinese New Year dates for 1901 to 2060, and check compatibility.

Interactive tool: https://lookup.sg/tools/chinese-zodiac-calculator

## How this works
Your zodiac animal follows the lunar year, which starts on Chinese New Year, not on 1 January. The calculator looks up the exact Chinese New Year date for your birth year from the Hong Kong Observatory's Gregorian-Lunar conversion tables (1901 to 2060, China Standard Time, the same clock as Singapore). If you were born before that date, you take the previous year's animal.

The animal cycles every 12 years (Rat, Ox, Tiger, Rabbit, Dragon, Snake, Horse, Goat, Monkey, Rooster, Dog, Pig) and the element every 10 years through the Heavenly Stems: years ending in 4 or 5 are Wood, 6 or 7 Fire, 8 or 9 Earth, 0 or 1 Metal, and 2 or 3 Water. Even years are Yang and odd years Yin.

Compatibility uses the traditional Earthly Branch relationships: the Six Harmonies (closest pairs), the Three Harmonies (groups of allies four years apart), the Six Clashes (signs six years apart) and the Six Harms. These are cultural tradition, shown for fun.

## FAQs
### What is my Chinese zodiac if I was born in January or early February?
It depends on the Chinese New Year date that year. Someone born on 10 February 2024 is a Dragon (Chinese New Year was that day), but someone born on 9 February 2024 is a Rabbit, because the Year of the Dragon only started on 10 February 2024.

### What Chinese zodiac year is 2026?
2026 is the Year of the Fire Horse (丙午), from 17 February 2026 to 5 February 2027. The Year of the Fire Goat starts on 6 February 2027.

### Which zodiac signs are compatible?
Traditionally the closest pairs (Six Harmonies) are Rat and Ox, Tiger and Pig, Rabbit and Dog, Dragon and Rooster, Snake and Monkey, and Horse and Goat. Signs six years apart clash, such as Rat and Horse or Tiger and Monkey.

### How do I find my Chinese zodiac element?
Look at the last digit of your lunar birth year: 0 or 1 is Metal, 2 or 3 Water, 4 or 5 Wood, 6 or 7 Fire, and 8 or 9 Earth. So 1990 is a Metal Horse and 1996 a Fire Rat, as long as you were born after that year's Chinese New Year.

## Sources
- [Hong Kong Observatory: Gregorian-Lunar Calendar Conversion Tables](https://www.hko.gov.hk/en/gts/time/conversion.htm)
- [Hong Kong Observatory: 2027 conversion table (Year of the Goat)](https://www.hko.gov.hk/en/gts/time/calendar/text/files/T2027e.txt)

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Source: Lookup (https://lookup.sg) · Data as of October 2026 · Listings compiled from Singapore government open data (data.gov.sg), OneMap and Overture Maps places. Free listings never show contact details; contact details appear only on Lookup Verified listings.