Chinese Zodiac Year Chart: Exact Gregorian Start and End Dates for Every Zodiac Sign

The Chinese twelve zodiac animals consist of twelve animals, arranged in this order: Rat, Ox, Tiger, Rabbit, Dragon, Snake, Horse, Goat, Monkey, Rooster, Dog, and Pig. Each lunar year corresponds to one animal — what we call a zodiac year. However, the zodiac is calculated according to the lunar calendar and does not fully coincide with the Gregorian (solar) calendar, so Gregorian years and zodiac years are not in one-to-one correspondence. Among them, people born in January or February are the most likely to miscalculate their own zodiac sign.

For example: 1980 was the Year of the Monkey, and its Lunar New Year date was February 16, 1980 on the Gregorian calendar.

• If you were born between 1980-02-16 and 1980-12-31, your zodiac sign is the Monkey;
• If you were born between 1980-01-01 and 1980-02-15, although you were born in the Gregorian year 1980, by lunar calculation you were born in 1979, so you still belong to the previous zodiac sign before the Monkey — the Goat.

2027 is the Year of the Goat. Converted according to the Gregorian calendar, the complete cycle of the Goat year is: 2027-02-06 to 2028-01-25.

The chart below records the exact Gregorian start and end dates of every zodiac year from 1936 to 2031, helping you accurately confirm the time period your zodiac sign belongs to.

Complete Chinese Zodiac Gregorian Start and End Date Chart, 1936–2031