Zodiac Sign Calculator (Western + Chinese)
Find your Western (tropical) zodiac sign and your Chinese zodiac animal and element from your birth date.
Result
How to use this calculator
- Enter your date of birth.
- Read your Western zodiac sun sign.
- See your Chinese zodiac animal and its element.
- If you were born in January or early February, check against the Chinese New Year date for that year.
About this calculator
This calculator reveals two zodiac systems from a single birth date. The Western (tropical) zodiac assigns one of twelve signs — Aries through Pisces — based on the position of the sun, which maps to fixed date ranges through the year. The Chinese zodiac works on a twelve-year cycle of animals (Rat, Ox, Tiger, and so on), determined by birth year, combined with a five-element cycle (Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal, Water) and a yin/yang polarity that together repeat every sixty years — so you might be a "Metal Horse" or a "Wood Dragon." Enter your date of birth and the tool returns your Western sun sign, your Chinese animal, and its element. Two caveats: Western cusp dates shift by about a day depending on the year and source, and the Chinese zodiac year actually starts at Chinese New Year in late January or February, so very early-year births can belong to the previous animal.
How it works — the formula
Western sign: lookup by (month, day) against fixed ranges
Chinese animal = ((year − 4) mod 12)
Element = floor(((year − 4) mod 10) / 2) → Wood/Fire/Earth/Metal/WaterWestern signs map calendar dates to the sun’s tropical position; the Chinese system derives the animal and element arithmetically from the year.
Worked examples
- Inputs:
- birth=1990-06-15
- Output:
- Gemini; Metal Horse
- Inputs:
- birth=2000-01-10
- Output:
- Capricorn; Metal Dragon (check CNY)
- Inputs:
- birth=2024-05-01
- Output:
- Taurus; Wood Dragon
Limitations
- Western cusp dates vary by a day across years/sources.
- Chinese year starts at Chinese New Year, not Jan 1 — Jan/Feb births may differ.
- Entertainment only; not predictive.
For entertainment; the zodiac has no scientific basis.