Most people know their Chinese animal and stop there. The animal is only the branch half of the answer: each year also carries a Heavenly Stem, which supplies one of the five elements and decides whether the year is Yang or Yin. Two people born in the same animal year twelve years apart do not share it. The table below gives the complete designation for every year from 1950 to 2015.
The animal comes from the Earthly Branch and is the part that repeats every twelve years. The element comes from the Heavenly Stem and repeats every ten. Because the two cycles run at different speeds, the combination only returns every sixty years — which is why 1950 and 2010 share a designation while 1951 and 2010 do not.
| Year | Animal | Element | Sexagenary |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1950 | Tiger | Yang Metal | Geng Yin |
| 1951 | Rabbit | Yin Metal | Xin Mao |
| 1952 | Dragon | Yang Water | Ren Chen |
| 1953 | Snake | Yin Water | Gui Si |
| 1954 | Horse | Yang Wood | Jia Wu |
| 1955 | Goat | Yin Wood | Yi Wei |
| 1956 | Monkey | Yang Fire | Bing Shen |
| 1957 | Rooster | Yin Fire | Ding You |
| 1958 | Dog | Yang Earth | Wu Xu |
| 1959 | Pig | Yin Earth | Ji Hai |
| 1960 | Rat | Yang Metal | Geng Zi |
| 1961 | Ox | Yin Metal | Xin Chou |
| 1962 | Tiger | Yang Water | Ren Yin |
| 1963 | Rabbit | Yin Water | Gui Mao |
| 1964 | Dragon | Yang Wood | Jia Chen |
| 1965 | Snake | Yin Wood | Yi Si |
| 1966 | Horse | Yang Fire | Bing Wu |
| 1967 | Goat | Yin Fire | Ding Wei |
| 1968 | Monkey | Yang Earth | Wu Shen |
| 1969 | Rooster | Yin Earth | Ji You |
| 1970 | Dog | Yang Metal | Geng Xu |
| 1971 | Pig | Yin Metal | Xin Hai |
| 1972 | Rat | Yang Water | Ren Zi |
| 1973 | Ox | Yin Water | Gui Chou |
| 1974 | Tiger | Yang Wood | Jia Yin |
| 1975 | Rabbit | Yin Wood | Yi Mao |
| 1976 | Dragon | Yang Fire | Bing Chen |
| 1977 | Snake | Yin Fire | Ding Si |
| 1978 | Horse | Yang Earth | Wu Wu |
| 1979 | Goat | Yin Earth | Ji Wei |
| 1980 | Monkey | Yang Metal | Geng Shen |
| 1981 | Rooster | Yin Metal | Xin You |
| 1982 | Dog | Yang Water | Ren Xu |
| 1983 | Pig | Yin Water | Gui Hai |
| 1984 | Rat | Yang Wood | Jia Zi |
| 1985 | Ox | Yin Wood | Yi Chou |
| 1986 | Tiger | Yang Fire | Bing Yin |
| 1987 | Rabbit | Yin Fire | Ding Mao |
| 1988 | Dragon | Yang Earth | Wu Chen |
| 1989 | Snake | Yin Earth | Ji Si |
| 1990 | Horse | Yang Metal | Geng Wu |
| 1991 | Goat | Yin Metal | Xin Wei |
| 1992 | Monkey | Yang Water | Ren Shen |
| 1993 | Rooster | Yin Water | Gui You |
| 1994 | Dog | Yang Wood | Jia Xu |
| 1995 | Pig | Yin Wood | Yi Hai |
| 1996 | Rat | Yang Fire | Bing Zi |
| 1997 | Ox | Yin Fire | Ding Chou |
| 1998 | Tiger | Yang Earth | Wu Yin |
| 1999 | Rabbit | Yin Earth | Ji Mao |
| 2000 | Dragon | Yang Metal | Geng Chen |
| 2001 | Snake | Yin Metal | Xin Si |
| 2002 | Horse | Yang Water | Ren Wu |
| 2003 | Goat | Yin Water | Gui Wei |
| 2004 | Monkey | Yang Wood | Jia Shen |
| 2005 | Rooster | Yin Wood | Yi You |
| 2006 | Dog | Yang Fire | Bing Xu |
| 2007 | Pig | Yin Fire | Ding Hai |
| 2008 | Rat | Yang Earth | Wu Zi |
| 2009 | Ox | Yin Earth | Ji Chou |
| 2010 | Tiger | Yang Metal | Geng Yin |
| 2011 | Rabbit | Yin Metal | Xin Mao |
| 2012 | Dragon | Yang Water | Ren Chen |
| 2013 | Snake | Yin Water | Gui Si |
| 2014 | Horse | Yang Wood | Jia Wu |
| 2015 | Goat | Yin Wood | Yi Wei |
Find your birth year in the table on this page. The animal comes from the Earthly Branch of that year, and the element comes from the Heavenly Stem. Both are shown together, because two people born in the same animal year twelve years apart will not have the same element.
The traditional cycle follows the lunar calendar, so a Chinese zodiac year begins at lunar new year, which falls between late January and mid February. If you were born in January or the first half of February, the animal for your birth year is usually the previous one. Check the exact lunar new year date for the year you were born.
Ten Heavenly Stems and twelve Earthly Branches are paired in turn, and because ten and twelve share a factor of two, only sixty distinct combinations exist before the sequence repeats. That is why a full element-and-animal combination returns every sixty years rather than every twelve.
No. The birth year supplies the animal and the stem element, but the Chinese system also reads the birth month (the inner animal), the birth day and the birth hour. Two people born in the same year can have noticeably different charts once those layers are added.