2025 Chinese Zodiac: Year of the Wood Snake
乙巳 · 蛇 Shé
2025 is the Year of the Wood Snake. The Chinese year ran from Jan 29, 2025 to Feb 16, 2026, so anyone born in that span is a Wood Snake. Born in January or early February? Lunar New Year fell on Jan 29, 2025, and earlier births belong to the Wood Dragon year.
- Snake
- Wood
- Yin
Born in 2025?
Enter your birth date to check, down to the exact Lunar New Year.
Month and day are optional. Add them if you were born in January or February. See January and February Chinese zodiac.
2025 at a Glance
- Animal
- Snake 蛇 shé
- Element
- Wood
- Yin or Yang
- Yin
- Year name
- 乙巳 · sound element 覆灯火
- Begins
- Wednesday, Jan 29, 2025
- Ends
- Feb 16, 2026
- Age in 2026
- 0 or 1
A 2025 Wood Snake Baby
The 2025 Snake year began on Jan 29, 2025 and did not end until Feb 16, 2026. A baby who arrives in early 2026, before the Fire Horse year starts, is a Wood Snake, something plenty of 2026 baby cards get wrong.
A 2025 baby celebrates a first birthday in 2026. Its first own sign year will be 2037, at 12. The year name 乙巳 carries the sound element 覆灯火, “lamp fire,” in Chinese tradition.
Born in January or Early February 2025?
The Chinese year does not start on January 1. Lunar New Year 2025 was on Wednesday, Jan 29, 2025, so births before that date belong to the year before.
| Born | Sign | Year name |
|---|---|---|
| Jan 1 to Jan 28, 2025 | Wood Dragon | 甲辰 |
| Jan 29, 2025 to Feb 16, 2026 | Wood Snake | 乙巳 |
So someone born on Jan 28, 2025 is a Wood Dragon, and someone born on Jan 29, 2025 is a Wood Snake. Dates are in China Standard Time.
What Is a Wood Snake?
A Wood Snake combines the Snake with the element of the birth year. 2025 ends in 5, which gives Wood. The element repeats every 60 years, so other Wood Snake years include 1905 and 1965.
How Old Is a 2025 Snake, and When Is the Next Snake Year?
Someone born in 2025 turns 1 in 2026 and 2 in 2027. The last Snake year was 2013. Your own sign year, called 本命年 (běnmìngnián), comes every 12 years. These are the Snake years a 2025 Snake lives through:
- 2025Wood SnakeBornThis page
2025 Snake Compatibility: Best and Hardest Matches
Compatibility follows the animal, not the element. Tradition favors the signs in the Snake's trine group and its Secret Friend, and is cautious about the opposite sign and the harm pair.
The 2025 Snake in 2026 and 2027
How the traditional rules link the Snake to the next two years, and how old a 2025 Snake will be.
2026, the Fire Horse Year: Steady
Turns 1. No formal link to the Horse in the traditional rules.
2027, the Fire Goat Year: Steady
Turns 2. No formal link to the Goat in the traditional rules.
Nearby Years
The years just before and after 2025, and the other years of the decade.
- 2023 Chinese zodiacWater RabbitJan 22, 2023 to Feb 9, 2024
- 2024 Chinese zodiacWood DragonFeb 10, 2024 to Jan 28, 2025
- 2025Wood SnakeJan 29, 2025 to Feb 16, 2026
- 2026 Chinese zodiacFire HorseFeb 17, 2026 to Feb 5, 2027
- 2027 Chinese zodiacFire GoatFeb 6, 2027 to Jan 25, 2028
Want every year on one sheet? Download the Chinese zodiac years chart PDF (A4, 1900 to 2035, with Lunar New Year dates).
2020 Chinese zodiac2021 Chinese zodiac2022 Chinese zodiac2023 Chinese zodiac2024 Chinese zodiac20252026 Chinese zodiac2028 Chinese zodiacAll Chinese zodiac years
2025 Chinese Zodiac FAQ
What Chinese zodiac is 2025?
2025 is the Year of the Wood Snake. The Chinese year ran from Jan 29, 2025 to Feb 16, 2026.
What element is the 2025 Chinese zodiac?
Wood. A year's element follows its last digit: 5 gives Wood. The Snake's own fixed element is Fire, which is a different thing.
What Chinese zodiac is January 2025?
Lunar New Year 2025 fell on Wednesday, Jan 29, 2025. Born from January 1 to Jan 28, 2025, you are a Wood Dragon. From Jan 29, 2025, you are a Wood Snake.
How old is someone born in 2025?
In 2026 they turn 1, or are 0 before their birthday. In 2027 they turn 2. Chinese tradition often counts age differently, adding one year at birth.
When is the next Snake year after 2025?
The Snake returns every 12 years, in 2037.