Korean Zodiac Sign by Date of Birth: Finder and Year Chart

Korean Zodiac Sign by Date of Birth: Finder and Year Chart

Your Korean zodiac animal is the one for your birth year, with one catch for January and early February births. Most Korean astrology (saju) practice starts the year at Ipchun, the "start of spring," usually February 3 or 4, not on January 1 or Lunar New Year. The finder below does the check for you.

Find your Korean zodiac animal

Uses the same solar-term calculation as our Free Saju Calculator. Your birth details are calculated in your browser and are not saved or sent by this tool. Page analytics are separate.

If you were born between February 6 and December 31, your animal is simply the one for your birth year in the chart below. If you were born in January or early February, check whether you were born before or after Ipchun, one of the 24 solar terms of the traditional calendar. Before it, you belong to the previous year's animal.

Ipchun or Lunar New Year: why the date matters

Many zodiac charts online switch animals on Lunar New Year (Seollal in Korea). Seollal moves around: it fell on January 29 in 2025 and February 17 in 2026, and it is listed for February 7 in 2027. Ipchun stays close to February 4. Its exact moment changes from year to year, and in some years it lands on February 3 in Korea, as it did in 2021 and 2025.

Here is where the two rules disagree. Someone born in Seoul on February 1, 2025 was born after Seollal (January 29) but before Ipchun (February 3 at 11:10 p.m.). A Lunar New Year chart calls that person a Snake. By the usual saju rule, the year had not turned yet, so the year animal is still the Dragon of 2024. Our calculator follows the saju rule, and so does the finder on this page.

Korean zodiac years, 1940–2027

Find your birth year in the table. The animal in that row is yours. If you were born in January or early February, check the Ipchun times below (2021–2027) or use the finder for any other year.

AnimalYears
Rat1948, 1960, 1972, 1984, 1996, 2008, 2020
Ox1949, 1961, 1973, 1985, 1997, 2009, 2021
Tiger1950, 1962, 1974, 1986, 1998, 2010, 2022
Rabbit1951, 1963, 1975, 1987, 1999, 2011, 2023
Dragon1940, 1952, 1964, 1976, 1988, 2000, 2012, 2024
Snake1941, 1953, 1965, 1977, 1989, 2001, 2013, 2025
Horse1942, 1954, 1966, 1978, 1990, 2002, 2014, 2026
Goat (Sheep)1943, 1955, 1967, 1979, 1991, 2003, 2015, 2027
Monkey1944, 1956, 1968, 1980, 1992, 2004, 2016
Rooster1945, 1957, 1969, 1981, 1993, 2005, 2017
Dog1946, 1958, 1970, 1982, 1994, 2006, 2018
Pig1947, 1959, 1971, 1983, 1995, 2007, 2019

The order repeats every 12 years. A quick way to check any year: subtract 4, divide by 12, and look at the remainder. 0 is the Rat, 1 the Ox, 2 the Tiger, and so on to 11, the Pig. For 1990, 1986 divided by 12 leaves 6, so 1990 is a Horse year. This works for the year itself; the Ipchun rule above still decides January and early February births.

Ipchun times, 2021–2027 (Korea time)

These are the moments Ipchun began in Korea Standard Time, from the calendar data published by the Korea Astronomy and Space Science Institute (KASI). The 2021–2026 times have passed; the 2027 time is a forecast. KASI notes that this calendar data is not its official announcement; the official figures appear in its annual almanac. Born before the time shown, you take the previous year's animal.

YearIpchun (Korea time)New animal starts
2021February 3, 11:59 p.m.Ox
2022February 4, 5:51 a.m.Tiger
2023February 4, 11:43 a.m.Rabbit
2024February 4, 5:27 p.m.Dragon
2025February 3, 11:10 p.m.Snake
2026February 4, 5:02 a.m.Horse
2027February 4, 10:46 a.m.Goat

For other years, use the finder above. It works out the Ipchun moment with the same solar-term calculation as our Free Saju Calculator. Different sources can round the time by a minute or two, so if you were born within a few minutes of Ipchun, treat the result as a close call.

The 12 animals and their Korean names

AnimalKorean name (romanized)
Ratjwi
Oxso
Tigerhorangi
Rabbittokki
Dragonyong
Snakebaem
Horsemal
Goatyang
Monkeywonsungi
Roosterdak
Doggae
Pigdwaeji

The Korean name of this animal is yang. English sources translate it as goat or as sheep, so you will see both names. We use Goat on this site.

Your animal is one character out of eight

In saju, your birth year, month, day and hour each give a pair of characters, eight in all. Your zodiac animal is just one of them: the lower character of the year pair. It is the part most people know, but a saju reading looks at the whole chart, and especially at the top character of the day pair, which stands for you. See The Four Pillars for how the eight characters are built, or enter your birth date in the Free Saju Calculator to see all eight.

Zodiac animal compatibility: the traditional basics

Korean marriage customs once included checking a couple's animals. The Encyclopedia of Korean Folk Culture (National Folk Museum of Korea) records these traditional pairings. This is folklore for curiosity. It is not a guide to choosing or avoiding a partner.

  • Groups of three said to go well together (samhap): Monkey, Rat and Dragon; Pig, Rabbit and Goat; Tiger, Horse and Dog; Snake, Rooster and Ox.
  • Pairs said to go well together (yukhap): Rat and Ox; Tiger and Pig; Rabbit and Dog; Dragon and Rooster; Snake and Monkey; Horse and Goat.
  • Pairs that folklore calls a poor match (wonjin): Rat and Goat; Ox and Horse; Tiger and Rooster; Rabbit and Monkey; Dragon and Pig; Snake and Dog.
  • Pairs that folklore describes as clashing (yukchung): Tiger and Monkey; Snake and Pig; Rat and Horse; Rabbit and Rooster; Dragon and Dog; Ox and Goat.

The entry says avoiding wonjin pairs is still common in some circles, and it also notes two things worth keeping in mind. A full saju match compares both people's whole charts, not just the year animal. And these checks matter much less today, when many couples marry regardless of what the chart says. Read the list as folklore. For a reading built from two full birth dates, try Compatibility Check.

Frequently asked questions

I was born in the United States. Do I convert to Korea time? You can, but you don't have to. Ipchun happens at one moment worldwide, so what matters is whether you were born before or after that moment. In 2025 it was 11:10 p.m. on February 3 in Korea, which was 9:10 a.m. on February 3 in New York and 6:10 a.m. in Los Angeles. A New York baby born at 8 a.m. that day belongs to the Dragon year, and one born at 10 a.m. to the Snake year. The finder does this for you: pick the city closest to where you were born, or a city in the same time zone.

I don't know my birth time. That only matters if you were born on the day of Ipchun. The finder checks the start and end of that day and tells you if the answer depends on the hour.

Is the Korean zodiac the same as the Chinese zodiac? The 12 animals and their order are the same. The difference you are most likely to meet is the start of the year: many popular charts switch at Lunar New Year, while most saju practice switches at Ipchun.

Is it the Year of the Goat or the Sheep? It is the same zodiac animal. Its Korean name is yang, which English sources translate as goat or sheep. We write Goat.

Can my animal predict my personality or my year? Not by itself. Your animal is one of eight characters in a saju chart, and a saju reading is for reflection, not prediction. Our readings are for entertainment.

Sources

  • Korea Astronomy and Space Science Institute (KASI), calendar data for 2021–2027: 24 solar terms (Ipchun times) and public holidays (Seollal). KASI notes that this data is not the official announcement; the official version is its annual almanac.
  • Encyclopedia of Korean Folk Culture, National Folk Museum of Korea, entry "Gunghap" (compatibility), by Kim Man-tae: folkency.nfm.go.kr.
  • Our own calculator rules: How We Calculate.

For entertainment purposes only. Not medical, legal, financial or psychological advice. Read the full Disclaimer. Questions? Visit our Contact page.

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