Year of the Dragon: Dragon Zodiac Years, Dates, Traits and Compatibility

The Dragon (龙) is sign number 5 of the twelve Chinese zodiac animals. Anyone born in a Year of the Dragon is traditionally described as ambitious, charismatic and energetic. The dragon is the only mythical animal in the zodiac, and in Chinese culture it is linked with rain and good fortune rather than danger. This guide gives the exact start and end dates for each Year of the Dragon in our reference table, explains why the boundary is not January 1, and covers traits, compatibility, Tai Sui and what researchers have found about Dragon-year births.

Dragon matches the branch Chen (辰), the hours of 7–9 am.

Year of the Dragon: exact dates

A Dragon year begins on Chinese New Year, not on January 1. If you were born in January or early February, check the start date below, or use the zodiac finder to be sure.

Zodiac year	Starts	Ends
1928	Jan 23, 1928	Feb 9, 1929
1940	Feb 8, 1940	Jan 26, 1941
1952	Jan 27, 1952	Feb 13, 1953
1964	Feb 13, 1964	Feb 1, 1965
1976	Jan 31, 1976	Feb 17, 1977
1988	Feb 17, 1988	Feb 5, 1989
2000	Feb 5, 2000	Jan 23, 2001
2012	Jan 23, 2012	Feb 9, 2013
2024	Feb 10, 2024	Jan 28, 2025

These dates come from the Hong Kong Observatory Gregorian-Lunar Calendar Conversion Table, which we use as the reference for all year boundaries on this site.

Why the boundary moves

The Chinese calendar is lunisolar. It has twelve months of 29 or 30 days, and occasionally an intercalary month is added so the calendar stays in step with the seasons, as Encyclopaedia Britannica's entry on the Chinese calendar explains. The zodiac year changes at Chinese New Year, which falls on the new moon between January 21 and February 20. So a child born in late January may belong to the previous zodiac animal.

Worked examples

The table below uses boundary dates from the same reference data. Each row shows how a birth date maps to a sign.

Birth date	Zodiac year	Reason
Jan 30, 1976	Rabbit (1975)	Dragon year starts Jan 31, 1976
Jan 31, 1976	Dragon	First day of the 1976 Dragon year
Feb 4, 2000	Rabbit (1999)	Dragon year starts Feb 5, 2000
Feb 5, 2000	Dragon	First day of the 2000 Dragon year
Feb 9, 2024	Rabbit (2023)	Dragon year starts Feb 10, 2024
Jan 28, 2025	Dragon	Last day of the 2024 Dragon year

How the sign system works

The zodiac animals are the twelve Earthly Branches (dizhi). As the Smith College Museum of Art's essay on the lunar year notes, the branches are combined with ten Heavenly Stems to name days, months and years. Together they form a 60-year cycle, a counting method the Victoria and Albert Museum describes as the basis for dating before 1912.

The ganzhi year count itself was adopted by the Han emperors around the 2nd century CE, according to Britannica's Chinese calendar entry. The animal attached to each year is therefore a long-standing convention, not a recent invention.

Dragon personality in Chinese tradition

Traditional descriptions of the Dragon focus on being ambitious, charismatic and energetic. These are cultural associations, not scientific findings, and they are shared by everyone born under the same animal. A full Four Pillars (Bazi) chart uses much more than the year animal. The V&A notes that assigning personalities to each sign is a fairly recent development, and older Chinese texts do not describe them in this way.

Dragon compatibility

Six Harmonies (secret friend): Rooster
Three Harmonies (allies): Rat and Monkey
Clash (opposite sign): Dog

In the tradition, compatibility describes patterns, not scores. You can see every pairing for the Dragon, including harm, break and punishment tags, on the compatibility tool.

Do Dragon years bring more babies?

The idea that Dragon years are popular for births is widely repeated, and researchers have tested it. Yip, Lee and Cheung (2002) studied Hong Kong and found that births in the Dragon years 1988 and 2000 rose 7.8% and 4.2% over the preceding year. They described this as a timing effect, with little impact on total fertility over a lifetime. You can read the paper on ScienceDirect.

Other studies point in different directions. Goodkind (1993) found that notable Dragon-year fertility increases did not appear before 1976 in Taiwan, and the 1976 boom was mostly linked to marriage timing, abortion and coital behavior, as described in Demography. Ma Yan (2010) found no national-level zodiac birth preference in mainland China from 1949 to 2008, with fluctuations attributed to population momentum, as published in Population Research.

A study by Mocan and Yu, published as an NBER working paper, found that births jump in a Dragon year and that Dragon-born children were more likely to be college educated and to have higher entrance exam scores. The authors report that this effect disappears once parents' expectations are taken into account, which suggests the pattern may be shaped by expectations rather than by the animal itself.

Year of the Dragon and Tai Sui in 2026 and 2027

2026 (Horse year): no traditional Tai Sui relationship
2027 (Goat year): no traditional Tai Sui relationship

These results follow the folk year-sign rule used by our Tai Sui checker. In Chinese folk belief, sixty Tai Sui gods take turns by year in the sixty-year Jiazi cycle, as the Kew Ong Yah Temple's Right Hall page describes. Meeting Tai Sui is a traditional reminder to be steady and considerate, not a forecast.

How to check your sign and keep reading

To confirm your sign, compare your birth date with the start and end dates above, or use the zodiac finder. Remember that Chinese New Year, not January 1, sets the boundary.

For more on the Dragon, see Dragon horoscope today, this week and this year, Dragon in the 2027 Year of the Goat, and How Chinese New Year decides your sign.

Frequently asked questions

When does a Year of the Dragon start?

A Dragon year starts on Chinese New Year, which falls on a new moon between January 21 and February 20. It does not start on January 1. For example, the 2024 Year of the Dragon began on February 10, 2024 and ended on January 28, 2025, according to the Hong Kong Observatory conversion data. Anyone born before the start date belongs to the previous zodiac animal.

Are people born in a Year of the Dragon more ambitious?

Ambition, charisma and energy are traditional descriptions of the Dragon sign. They are cultural associations, not scientific findings. Many people born in a Dragon year share these traits in folklore, but the tradition does not measure individuals. A full Bazi chart uses much more information than the year animal alone.

Do more babies get born in a Year of the Dragon?

Some studies have found a rise in births in Dragon years. Yip, Lee and Cheung (2002) reported increases of 7.8% and 4.2% in Hong Kong in 1988 and 2000, which they described as a timing effect with little effect on lifetime fertility. Ma Yan (2010) found no national zodiac birth preference in mainland China from 1949 to 2008. The evidence is mixed.

Is 2026 a Year of the Dragon?

No. According to Encyclopaedia Britannica, 2026 is the Year of the Horse. The Dragon sign returns in the years listed in our reference table. Our Tai Sui checker shows no traditional Tai Sui relationship for the Dragon in 2026 or 2027, following the folk year-sign rule used on this site.

What animal is paired with the Dragon for compatibility?

In traditional Chinese astrology, the Dragon's Six Harmonies partner is the Rooster, its Three Harmonies allies are the Rat and Monkey, and its clash partner is the Dog. These patterns describe tradition, not fixed outcomes. You can check every pairing, including harm and punishment tags, on the compatibility tool.

How do I know if I was born in the Year of the Dragon?

Compare your birth date with the start and end dates of the Dragon years. If you were born in January or early February, the Chinese New Year boundary may change your sign. Use the zodiac finder on this site, or the Hong Kong Observatory conversion table, to confirm the exact start date for your birth year.