Chinese zodiac chart: birth years and ages in 2026

A Chinese zodiac chart gives two answers from one birth year: the animal, and the age reached in 2026. The chart covers every birth year from 1929 to 2026, grouped by animal.

2026 is the Year of the Horse, and more precisely a Fire Horse year. It began on Lunar New Year, February 17, 2026, not on January 1, and that start date is the one thing a year chart cannot show on its own.

Chinese zodiac chart by birth year, with your 2026 age

The table gives the year of each animal in the current round, from the Rat in 2020 to the Pig in 2031, with the age reached this year. The 12 animals take turns in a fixed order, so each animal's birth years sit 12 years apart. The full lists from 1929 to 2026 follow the table, one per animal.

Open an animal to see every birth year from 1929 to 2026 that belongs to it. The Horse is open because 2026 is its year, and each Horse birth year gives an age that is a multiple of 12 this year, from 0 up to 96. All ages assume the 2026 birthday has already passed, so subtract 1 if it has not.

Rat

Birth year	Age in 2026
2020	6
2008	18
1996	30
1984	42
1972	54
1960	66
1948	78
1936	90

Ox

Birth year	Age in 2026
2021	5
2009	17
1997	29
1985	41
1973	53
1961	65
1949	77
1937	89

Tiger

Birth year	Age in 2026
2022	4
2010	16
1998	28
1986	40
1974	52
1962	64
1950	76
1938	88

Rabbit

Birth year	Age in 2026
2023	3
2011	15
1999	27
1987	39
1975	51
1963	63
1951	75
1939	87

Dragon

Birth year	Age in 2026
2024	2
2012	14
2000	26
1988	38
1976	50
1964	62
1952	74
1940	86

Snake

Birth year	Age in 2026
2025	1
2013	13
2001	25
1989	37
1977	49
1965	61
1953	73
1941	85
1929	97

Horse — the sign of 2026

Birth year	Age in 2026
2026	0
2014	12
2002	24
1990	36
1978	48
1966	60
1954	72
1942	84
1930	96

Goat

Birth year	Age in 2026
2015	11
2003	23
1991	35
1979	47
1967	59
1955	71
1943	83
1931	95

Monkey

Birth year	Age in 2026
2016	10
2004	22
1992	34
1980	46
1968	58
1956	70
1944	82
1932	94

Rooster

Birth year	Age in 2026
2017	9
2005	21
1993	33
1981	45
1969	57
1957	69
1945	81
1933	93

Dog

Birth year	Age in 2026
2018	8
2006	20
1994	32
1982	44
1970	56
1958	68
1946	80
1934	92

Pig

Birth year	Age in 2026
2019	7
2007	19
1995	31
1983	43
1971	55
1959	67
1947	79
1935	91

Every age is 2026 minus the birth year. The chart goes by the Gregorian birth year, which gives the right animal for any birthday from March to December.

Turn a Japanese era year into a Western year first

A birth year written as Showa or Heisei does not match the chart until it is converted. The era converter on sakuttoAI turns an era year into a Western year, and its reference table puts an age beside each year.

With the Western year in hand, find that year in the animal rows of the chart for the animal and the age. The converter's own reference table also shows the age beside each year.

Born in January or February? Check Lunar New Year first

The chart can name the wrong animal for an early-year birthday, because each zodiac year begins on a date that moves from year to year. A zodiac year starts at Lunar New Year, not on January 1. The Chinese calendar follows the moon, so Lunar New Year lands on a different Gregorian date each year, and the same early-year date can belong to the new animal in one year and to the old one in another.

The two start dates that matter for 2026 and 2027 are in the table. Each zodiac year ends the day before the next one begins.

The Horse year therefore runs from February 17, 2026 through February 5, 2027. Every date in between counts as a Horse date, including all of January 2027.

A baby born on February 10, 2026 arrived seven days before Lunar New Year, so the Snake year was still running and that child is a Snake, even though the chart lists 2026 under the Horse. A baby born on January 20, 2027 is the opposite case, because the Goat year has not started by then and that child is a Horse.

Neither case changes the age. Age counts from the Gregorian birthday, so only the animal can differ from the chart.

Chinese zodiac calculator by hand: divide the year by 12

Divide the birth year by 12 and match the remainder to an animal, which works for any year, including years outside the chart. The animals repeat every 12 years, so one animal always leaves the same remainder. The remainder runs from 0 to 11, and each value belongs to exactly one animal.

The table starts at the Monkey because years that divide evenly by 12, such as 2028, are Monkey years. For a check, 2020 leaves 4, which is the Rat, and 2026 leaves 10, which is the Horse.

Take 1990 as an example. Dividing 1990 by 12 leaves 10, so 1990 is a Horse year. The same division for 2026 also leaves 10, and the two years are 36 years apart, which is three turns of 12.

The remainder uses the Gregorian year, so it gives the wrong animal for a January or February birthday that falls before that year's Lunar New Year. For those birthdays, compare the date with that year's Lunar New Year start date and take the earlier animal when the birthday comes first.

The 12 Chinese zodiac animals in order

The 12 animals always come in the same order, Rat first and Pig last, and then the cycle starts again. The table adds the Earthly Branch of each animal, the character the Chinese calendar used to name the year before the animals were attached to it as memory aids. The last column places each animal in the current round, so Horse falls on 2026.

Counting on from the Horse, 2027 goes to the Goat and 2031 closes the round with the Pig. After the Pig the next year is the Rat again.

Goat or Sheep: one sign, two names

The eighth sign appears as Goat in some English charts and as Sheep in others, with the same birth years. If one chart says Goat and another says Sheep, they are describing one animal. The chart uses Goat throughout, and a Sheep in the same position elsewhere is the same sign.

The Great Race legend behind the order

The Jade Emperor called the animals to his palace, and their arrival fixed the places they hold today, according to the legend. It is a legend rather than a historical record, and the contest is known as the Great Race.

Some tellings add a trick. The Cat asked the Rat to wake him when it was time to go to the palace, but the Rat let him sleep and went in his place, and the story says that is why cats still chase rats.

Why 2026 is the Year of the Fire Horse

Each year takes a Heavenly Stem as well as an animal, and the stem bǐng with the Horse comes around once in 60 years. The animal is only half of a year's full name in the Chinese calendar. Each year also carries one of ten Heavenly Stems, also called Celestial Stems, and pairing those ten with the 12 animals gives a cycle of 60 years.

The ten stems run jiǎ 甲, yǐ 乙, bǐng 丙, dīng 丁, wù 戊, jǐ 己, gēng 庚, xīn 辛, rén 壬 and guǐ 癸, and then start over. Each stem returns every 10 years, and bǐng fell on 2006 and 2016 before it reached 2026. Bǐng with the Horse (午) makes 2026 the Fire Horse year 丙午.

A cycle of 10 and a cycle of 12 meet at the same point again only after 60 years. That is why the Fire Horse returns once every 60 years, in 1966, 2026 and then 2086.

People born in 1966 were born in the previous Fire Horse year, so they turn 60 in 2026 once their birthday has passed. They are back at the stem and animal they were born under.