Year of the Goat (Sheep) in the Chinese Zodiac: Cycle Order, Verified Dates, and Five Elements

By Astrolivo Editorial Team

The Goat—also commonly translated in English as the Sheep or Ram—is the eighth animal in the twelve-year Chinese zodiac sequence, following the Horse and preceding the Monkey. Both "Goat" and "Sheep" refer to the same Chinese term (yang) and the eighth earthly branch (wei). In the official Hong Kong Observatory (HKO) conversion table headers used across this reference site, this branch is labeled Year of the Goat.

Because the traditional Chinese calendar is lunisolar, a Goat year begins on Lunar New Year in late January or February rather than on January 1. Anyone born in January or February before that year's Lunar New Year start date falls under the preceding Horse year in civil calendar lookups.

Verified Goat Years and Exact Date Boundaries

The table below contains verified example years for the Goat from the official Hong Kong Observatory Gregorian-lunar conversion tables. This list is non-exhaustive: it includes only the six verified Goat years in our reference dataset, whereas the twelve-year cycle continues before 1967 and after 2027.

How to Check Your Birth Date and Follow Year Links

To verify whether a birth date belongs to one of the Goat years listed above, compare the exact month and day against the Lunar New Year (Start Date) and End Date columns:

• Hypothetical example (born in February before Lunar New Year): Suppose a person was born on February 10, 2015. Because the 2015 Yi-wei Goat year began on February 19, 2015, a birth date of February 10, 2015 still belongs to the preceding 2014 Wood Horse year.
• Hypothetical example (born on or after Lunar New Year, or in early the next year): Suppose a person was born on February 19, 2015, or on January 30, 2016. Both dates fall within the inclusive window from February 19, 2015 through February 7, 2016, placing them in the 2015 Wood Goat year.

To view the dedicated reference page for any year in the table, select its link in the Year Guide column, or visit the Chinese zodiac overview to browse all twelve animals.

The Twelve-Year Branch and Sixty-Year Element Cycle

In the standard twelve-animal sequence—Rat, Ox, Tiger, Rabbit, Dragon, Snake, Horse, Goat (or Sheep), Monkey, Rooster, Dog, and Pig—the Goat occupies the eighth position, corresponding to the earthly branch wei.

While the animal branch wei recurs every twelve years, the Chinese calendar also rotates through ten heavenly stems (Jia, Yi, Bing, Ding, Wu, Ji, Geng, Xin, Ren, Gui) to form a sixty-year (sexagenary) cycle, anchored in modern reference tables by the Jia-zi Rat year that began on February 2, 1984. In traditional five-phase (wu xing) correspondence:

• Wood: Jia and Yi
• Fire: Bing and Ding
• Earth: Wu and Ji
• Metal: Geng and Xin
• Water: Ren and Gui

Because wei pairs with the five Yin stems (Ding, Ji, Xin, Gui, Yi) in sequence, each Goat year takes on a different element before the full stem-branch name repeats sixty years later. In the verified table above, the cycle progresses from 1967 (Ding-wei, Fire) to 1979 (Ji-wei, Earth), 1991 (Xin-wei, Metal), 2003 (Gui-wei, Water), 2015 (Yi-wei, Wood), and finally returns to 2027 (Ding-wei, Fire)—marking a full sixty-year return to the Ding-wei Fire Goat.

Cultural History and Interpretive Boundaries

Historical and museum records demonstrate that associating years with twelve animals in China dates back at least to the Han period, with zodiac figures also surviving from the Tang dynasty. In its historical context, this twelve-branch and ten-stem structure served as a calendar-naming convention. Popular narratives explaining why the animals appear in their specific order—such as the folklore tale of a race—are traditional stories rather than historical records. Similarly, while English references variously translate the eighth sign as Goat or Sheep, both refer to the same branch (wei) in the Chinese zodiac (note that some other Asian zodiac traditions can differ in their local animal lists).

Modern horoscopes often attach personality profiles, lucky charms, or romantic compatibility ratings to birth-year animals. When consulting this reference, keep three distinctions clear:

1. HKO Civil Lunar New Year vs. Four Pillars (BaZi): The start and end dates on this page follow Lunar New Year in the official Hong Kong Observatory civil conversion tables. Traditional Four Pillars (BaZi) calculations generally shift the year pillar at Li Chun (the solar term marking the start of spring) and analyze four pillars (year, month, day, and hour) together. This page provides a civil calendar year lookup, not a Four Pillars calculation.
2. Lunisolar Year vs. Western Tropical Sun Sign: Your Chinese zodiac sign identifies an entire lunisolar year, whereas a Western Sun sign identifies the Sun's position along the tropical ecliptic on your date of birth.
3. Symbolic Tradition: Calendar designations and traditional astrological interpretations are symbolic cultural frameworks, not scientifically measured personality traits, relationship scores, or medical, legal, or financial advice.

Methodology and Sources

All year headers, stem-branch names, and Gregorian start and end dates in the table are verified from the official Hong Kong Observatory (HKO) Gregorian-Lunar Calendar Conversion Tables and the HKO reference on Heavenly Stems and Earthly Branches (anchored to Jia-zi starting February 2, 1984). The five-element correspondence for the ten heavenly stems is drawn from Yoo & Yoon (2019, Journal of Korean Medical Classics, DOI: 10.14369/jkmc.2019.32.2.017 abstract), used strictly for traditional stem-to-element naming without importing medical theories or personality claims. Context on the lunisolar calendar, the 2027 Goat start date (February 6, 2027), the Goat/Sheep naming convention, Han and Tang history, and folklore distinctions comes from the Victoria and Albert Museum (The Lunar Zodiac, updated April 17, 2024) and Royal Museums Greenwich (Lunar New Year dates and animals of the zodiac).

Frequently Asked Questions

Is it the Year of the Goat or the Year of the Sheep?

Both English names refer to the exact same eighth sign in the Chinese zodiac, associated with the eighth earthly branch (wei). For instance, museum guides such as the Victoria and Albert Museum list "sheep" in the twelve-animal order, while the Hong Kong Observatory conversion table headers and Royal Museums Greenwich list "Goat" (such as the 2027 Year of the Goat starting February 6, 2027).

If I was born in late January 1968 or late January 1980, am I a Goat or a Monkey?

You must check the exact day against the end date of the Goat year. The 1967 Fire Goat year ran through January 29, 1968, and the 1968 Earth Monkey year began on January 30, 1968. Similarly, the 1979 Earth Goat year ran through February 15, 1980, before the 1980 Metal Monkey year began on February 16, 1980.

Are the six years in the table the only Goat years?

No. Goat years occur every twelve years. The table on this page is non-exhaustive and lists only the six verified HKO conversion table rows (1967, 1979, 1991, 2003, 2015, and 2027) included in our reference dataset.