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

The Rabbit (兔) is sign number 4 of the twelve Chinese zodiac animals, and a Year of the Rabbit is traditionally linked with gentleness, tact and refinement. The Jade Rabbit who lives on the Moon pounding the elixir of life is one of the best-loved Mid-Autumn stories, which gives the sign its associations with grace and quiet care. This guide lists every Rabbit year from 1927 to 2035, shows how to work out your sign from your birthday, and covers compatibility and Tai Sui for the years ahead.

Rabbit matches the branch Mao (卯), the hours of 5–7 am, the soft light of dawn.

Year of the Rabbit: exact dates

A zodiac year begins on Chinese New Year, not on January 1. Encyclopaedia Britannica notes that the zodiac year starts with Chinese New Year and that the animal changes at that point (Britannica on Chinese New Year). The festival itself falls on the new moon between January 21 and February 20, so the start date moves from year to year.

The table below gives the start and end of each Year of the Rabbit covered by this guide. The dates come from the Hong Kong Observatory's Gregorian-Lunar Calendar Conversion Table.

Zodiac year	Starts	Ends
1927	Feb 2, 1927	Jan 22, 1928
1939	Feb 19, 1939	Feb 7, 1940
1951	Feb 6, 1951	Jan 26, 1952
1963	Jan 25, 1963	Feb 12, 1964
1975	Feb 11, 1975	Jan 30, 1976
1987	Jan 29, 1987	Feb 16, 1988
1999	Feb 16, 1999	Feb 4, 2000
2011	Feb 3, 2011	Jan 22, 2012
2023	Jan 22, 2023	Feb 9, 2024
2035	Feb 8, 2035	Jan 27, 2036

Worked examples: which sign does a birthday belong to?

To check a birthday, first find the Chinese New Year start date for that calendar year. If the birthday falls on or after that date, and before the next start date, the sign is the animal for that year. If it falls earlier, the person belongs to the previous zodiac year. Three examples show how this works:

Birthday	Compared with the start date	Sign
Feb 2, 2011	Before Feb 3, 2011	Previous year, not Rabbit
Feb 3, 2011	On the start date	Rabbit
Feb 15, 1999	Before Feb 16, 1999	Previous year, not Rabbit
Feb 16, 1999	On the start date	Rabbit
Jan 21, 2023	Before Jan 22, 2023	Previous year, not Rabbit
Jan 22, 2023	On the start date	Rabbit

So a birthday on February 3, 2011 falls within the Year of the Rabbit, while one on February 2, 2011 does not. The same logic applies to January birthdays in 2023. A January or early February birthday is the one most likely to need checking.

What the Year of the Rabbit means in tradition

Traditional descriptions of the Rabbit focus on being gentle, tactful and refined. These are cultural associations shared by everyone born in the same zodiac year, not a scientific finding or a personal reading. A full Four Pillars (Bazi) chart uses much more than the year animal.

It is also worth knowing that a set personality for each sign is a fairly recent idea. The Victoria and Albert Museum notes that personality-by-sign descriptions do not appear in old Chinese texts (V&A, The 12 zodiac animals). Treat the traits as stories people tell, not as facts about any individual.

The Rabbit in the sixty-year cycle

Branches, stems and the 60-year count

The zodiac animals are the twelve Earthly Branches (dizhi), which Smith College Museum of Art describes as the system used alongside the ten Heavenly Stems to name days, months and years (Smith College). Britannica explains that ten stems and twelve branches combine into a 60-unit cycle (Britannica on the Chinese calendar). This is why the Year of the Rabbit comes round every twelve years, as the table shows: 1927, 1939, 1951 and so on.

Why the calendar is not simply the solar year

The Chinese calendar is lunisolar. Its months are based on the moon, with 29 or 30 days each, and intercalary months are added from time to time to keep the calendar in step with the seasons (Britannica). For background on the seasonal markers used alongside it, the Hong Kong Observatory's 24 Solar Terms page is a useful reference.

Do zodiac years change birth numbers?

Some people wonder whether a Rabbit year is a favourite for having children. The research is mixed. A study by Ma Yan, published in Population Research in 2010, found no zodiac birth preference at the national level in mainland China from 1949 to 2008. Fluctuations in births were better explained by population momentum (Renmin University, Population Research).

In Hong Kong, Yip, Lee and Cheung (2002) reported that births rose 7.8% and 4.2% over the preceding year in the Dragon years 1988 and 2000. They described this as a timing effect with little effect on cumulative fertility (Social Science & Medicine). A separate NBER paper by Mocan and Yu found that apparent school advantages among Dragon-born children disappeared once parents' expectations were taken into account (NBER w23709). None of this says a sign shapes a person; it shows how cultural beliefs can interact with timing and expectations.

Rabbit compatibility

In the tradition, the Rabbit has a few standard pairings:

Six Harmonies (secret friend): Dog
Three Harmonies (allies): Goat and Pig
Clash (opposite sign): Rooster

Compatibility in the tradition describes patterns, not scores. For every pairing for the Rabbit, including harm, break and punishment tags, see the compatibility tool.

Rabbit and Tai Sui in 2026 and 2027

Tai Sui is a folk belief in a year-god. The Kew Ong Yah Temple in Singapore explains that sixty Tai Sui gods take turns by year in the sixty Jiazi cycle, and that each person has a birth-year natal god (Kew Ong Yah Temple).

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

These follow the folk year-sign rule set used by our Tai Sui checker. Meeting Tai Sui is a traditional reminder to be steady and considerate, not a forecast.

How to check your sign, and read more

To confirm your sign, compare your birthday with the start date in the table above, or use the zodiac finder. Once you know your sign, these pages may help:

Frequently asked questions

When does the Year of the Rabbit start and end in the 2020s?

The most recent Year of the Rabbit in this guide began on January 22, 2023, and ended on February 9, 2024, according to the Hong Kong Observatory conversion tables. Because the zodiac year starts on Chinese New Year, the dates shift from one calendar year to the next. Always compare your birthday with the exact start date for your birth year rather than assuming January 1.

I was born in January. Am I always a Rabbit if the year is a Rabbit year?

Not necessarily. A January birthday only counts as the Rabbit if it falls on or after that year's Chinese New Year start date. For example, a birthday on January 21, 2023 falls before the January 22, 2023 start, so it belongs to the previous zodiac year. A birthday on January 22, 2023 is in the Year of the Rabbit.

When is the next Year of the Rabbit after 2023?

The next Year of the Rabbit in the tradition is 2035, which starts on February 8, 2035, and ends on January 27, 2036. The Rabbit returns every twelve years, which is why the years in the table follow a steady pattern. Check the exact start date before assuming your sign for any January or early February birthday.

Are the personality traits linked to the Rabbit scientifically proven?

No. The traits of gentleness, tact and refinement are cultural associations within the Chinese zodiac tradition, not scientific findings. The Victoria and Albert Museum notes that personality-by-sign descriptions are a fairly recent development and do not appear in old Chinese texts. They are best treated as traditional stories rather than facts about any one person.

Does Tai Sui mean a Rabbit will have bad luck in 2026?

The folk rule used here lists Break (po) as the Rabbit's relationship with the 2026 Year of the Horse. In the tradition, meeting Tai Sui is a reminder to be steady and considerate, not a forecast of fortune or misfortune. A Rabbit who wants to learn more can read the Tai Sui checker and remember that these are cultural practices, not predictions.

Do zodiac years really affect birth rates?

The evidence is mixed. Ma Yan (2010) found no national zodiac birth preference in mainland China from 1949 to 2008. In Hong Kong, Yip and colleagues reported that births rose 7.8% and 4.2% in the Dragon years 1988 and 2000, describing a timing effect with little effect on cumulative fertility. Researchers continue to debate how much culture influences these patterns.