The 2027 lunar year begins on Saturday, February 6, 2027. Here is how that date is set, how long the Goat year lasts, and why babies born in early February 2027 can be given two different signs depending on the tradition used.
According to the Hong Kong Observatory’s Gregorian-Lunar conversion tables, the first day of the first lunar month of 2027 is Saturday, February 6, 2027. The year is Ding-wei, the year of the Goat; Ding is the yin Fire stem, so it is commonly called a Fire Goat year. It follows the Bing-wu Fire Horse year that began on February 17, 2026, and it runs through Tuesday, January 25, 2028, the day before Lunar New Year 2028.
Lunar New Year is the first day of the first month of the Chinese lunisolar calendar, and lunar months begin on the day of a new moon. In the Observatory’s tables for 1901 to 2100, it always falls between January 21 and February 20. That is why the date jumps from February 17 in 2026 to February 6 in 2027 and January 26 in 2028.
| Year | Lunar New Year | Sign | Lichun (Spring Commences) | Births where the two methods differ |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | Wednesday, January 29, 2025 | Wood Snake (Yi-si) | February 3 | January 29–February 2: Snake by Lunar New Year, Dragon until Lichun |
| 2026 | Tuesday, February 17, 2026 | Fire Horse (Bing-wu) | February 4 | February 4–February 16: Snake by Lunar New Year, Horse from Lichun |
| 2027 | Saturday, February 6, 2027 | Fire Goat (Ding-wei) | February 4 | February 4–February 5: Horse by Lunar New Year, Goat from Lichun |
| 2028 | Wednesday, January 26, 2028 | Earth Monkey (Wu-shen) | February 4 | January 26–February 3: Monkey by Lunar New Year, Goat until Lichun |
| 2029 | Tuesday, February 13, 2029 | Earth Rooster (Ji-you) | February 3 | February 3–February 12: Monkey by Lunar New Year, Rooster from Lichun |
| 2030 | Sunday, February 3, 2030 | Metal Dog (Geng-xu) | February 4 | February 3: Dog by Lunar New Year, Rooster until Lichun |
Most zodiac charts and calculators, including the Chinese zodiac calculator, change sign at Lunar New Year. Some traditions change it at Lichun, the solar term the Observatory lists as Spring Commences, which falls on February 3 or 4 in these years. When Lichun comes first, as in 2027, the few days between the two dates belong to different animals depending on the method.
A baby born on February 4 or 5, 2027 is a Horse by the Lunar New Year rule, because the Goat year has not started, but a Goat by the Lichun rule. Anyone born from February 6, 2027 through January 25, 2028 is a Goat by Lunar New Year. Late January 2028 births are the reverse case: from January 26, when Lunar New Year 2028 starts the Monkey year, to February 3, the Lichun rule still counts them as Goats.
Using January 1. A January 2027 birthday belongs to the Horse year that began in February 2026, not the Goat.
Using a list of Gregorian years. Charts that say “2027 = Goat” are right for most of the year and wrong for January and early February.
Mixing the Goat, Sheep and Ram. They are translations of the same sign, wei.
Trusting dates far in the future to the day. The Observatory notes that its moon-phase and solar-term times decades ahead can be off by a few minutes, which in rare cases moves a date by a day; it lists cases such as the new moon of September 28, 2057.
Saturday, February 6, 2027, according to the Hong Kong Observatory’s conversion tables.
The Goat (also translated Sheep or Ram). 2027 is a Ding-wei year, a Fire Goat year.
On January 25, 2028. Lunar New Year 2028, starting the Monkey year, is January 26, 2028.
No. Births before February 6, 2027 belong to the Horse year that began February 17, 2026.
The solar term Spring Commences, around February 4. Some traditions start the zodiac year there instead of at Lunar New Year.