The Chinese zodiac assigns one of 12 animals to each year in a repeating cycle, combined with one of five elements on a separate 10-year cycle — together producing 60 unique year combinations before the full pattern repeats. Our Chinese zodiac calculator computes both from any birth year instantly.
The animal cycle
12 animals repeat in fixed order: Rat, Ox, Tiger, Rabbit, Dragon, Snake, Horse, Goat, Monkey, Rooster, Dog, Pig. The cycle is anchored so that 1900 was a Year of the Rat — the calculator finds your birth year’s offset from 1900, modulo 12, to determine your animal.
The element cycle
Alongside the animal cycle, Chinese astrology assigns one of five elements (Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal, Water) on a 10-year cycle, with each element covering two consecutive years. Combining animal and element produces specific labels like “Metal Dragon” (2000) or “Wood Rat” (1984) — these full combinations repeat only once every 60 years.
Example
Birth year 2000: offset from 1900 is 100, and 100 mod 12 = 4 → Dragon. For the element, 100 mod 10 = 0 → Metal. So 2000 is a Metal Dragon year — matching the widely-cited “Year of the Metal Dragon” for 2000.
One important caveat
This calculator uses your calendar (Gregorian) birth year directly. The true Chinese zodiac year technically starts on Chinese New Year — a date that shifts between late January and mid-February each year, not January 1st. If you were born in early January or February, your actual zodiac animal might belong to the previous year rather than your birth year as commonly understood — check an exact Chinese New Year date table if your birthday falls in that window.
Not to be confused with Western (tropical) zodiac astrology, which uses an entirely separate 12-sign system based on birth month and day, not year.