Okay, here’s a blog post about calculating the Chinese zodiac based on the lunar calendar, written in a personal, informal style:
So, I’ve been trying to figure out this whole Chinese zodiac thing. You know, like, what animal you are based on your birth year. Turns out, it’s not as simple as just looking at the year you were born.

First, I had to get my head around the fact that it’s based on the lunar calendar, not the regular calendar we use every day. That means the start of the year jumps around a bit, usually sometime in late January or February.
Once I figured out the lunar calendar part, then I needed to know the 12 animals. There’s Rat, Ox, Tiger, Rabbit, Dragon, Snake, Horse, Goat, Monkey, Rooster, Dog, and Pig. They go in a specific order, a 12-year cycle, it’s not like they just picked them out of a hat.
My First Steps
- I found out that 2025 is going to be the Year of the Snake. Apparently, it starts on January 29th, 2025. That’s when the lunar new year kicks off.
- I dug around a bit and found a list of some of the animals’ characteristics. Like, people born in the Year of the Rat are supposed to be adaptable and quick-witted.
Putting it all together
Then came the tricky part – figuring out how to match a birth year to the right animal. It’s not just “born in 1990? You’re a Horse”. Because of that lunar calendar thing, if you were born in January or early February, you might actually be the animal from the year before. It’s like your birthday is kind of close to New Year’s Eve, so you need to double-check the date when the Lunar New Year started.
I’m still working on a foolproof way to calculate it for any year. I found some things online, but it can get a little complicated. I made a simple chart that makes things easier to understand, but it’s not perfect yet. It’s a work in progress, but I thought I’d share what I’ve learned so far. It’s a pretty cool system once you start to understand it.
The most difficult part is that I need to confirm the specific start and end dates for each lunar year. I’m still not totally sure how to find those dates quickly.
Once I figure out the exact dates, I can finally confirm my own Chinese zodiac animal. That’s my next step.

This is what I did. I found it very interesting, so I wrote it down and shared it here. I hope it can be helpful to you guys.