Born in 2023: the Rabbit
A Yin Water Rabbit 🐇
Rabbits are calm, kind, and socially graceful. They avoid conflict, read a room well, and have good taste in design and detail. As a Water-element year, 2023 adds a adaptable, perceptive and persuasive streak to the usual Rabbit character.
The 2023 lunar year ran from January 22, 2023 to February 10, 2024. If you were born on or after January 22, 2023 you are a Rabbit; if you were born earlier in 2023, you belong to the previous year's sign, the Tiger.
What the Water element adds
Water is the element of winter, depth and adaptability. A Water year makes an animal more intuitive and persuasive, better at reading people and bending around obstacles rather than confronting them head-on.
The full 60-year cycle pairs each of the 12 animals with each of the 5 elements, so a Water Rabbit year comes around only once every 60 years — the last one before 2023 was 1963, and the next is 2083. People born in it are said to combine gentle and tactful with the element's adaptable nature. Its Yin/Yang polarity is fixed as Yin for every Rabbit year. See the Water element and the full Water Rabbit profile.
2023 at a glance
| Animal | 🐇 Rabbit (兔) |
|---|---|
| Element | Water |
| Polarity | Yin |
| Best match | Dog |
| Hardest match | Rooster |
| Lucky numbers | 3, 4, 6 |
| Lucky colors | pink, red, purple, blue |
Rabbit compatibility
In the traditional chart, a 2023 Rabbit gets on best with the Dog (the "secret friend" pairing), and also with Goat and Pig. The hardest pairing is the Rooster, six years apart in the cycle. See the full Rabbit compatibility table.
Your zodiac years
The Rabbit returns every 12 years, so someone born in 2023 is back in their own zodiac year in 2035, 2047, 2059, 2071 and so on. Tradition calls this your běnmìngnián — despite being "your" year, it is thought to clash with Tài Suì (the God of Age) and to carry a higher chance of setbacks, so many people wear red through it for protection.
Other Rabbit years
1939 1951 1963 1975 1987 1999 2011 2035
Full Rabbit personality profile → Rabbit compatibility with every sign →
Know your exact birth date? Use the calculator for your full combination →
Frequently asked questions
What Chinese zodiac sign is 2023?
2023 is the year of the Rabbit (Water Rabbit, Yin polarity). Anyone born on or after January 22, 2023 is a Rabbit; a birthday earlier in 2023 belongs to the previous sign, the Tiger.
What element is the 2023 zodiac year?
2023 is a Water-element year. Water is the element of winter, depth and adaptability. A Water year makes an animal more intuitive and persuasive, better at reading people and bending around obstacles rather than confronting them head-on.
Who is a 2023 Rabbit most compatible with?
Best matches are the Dog (the "secret friend"), plus the Goat and Pig. The hardest match is the Rooster.
Is 2023 a lucky year to be born in?
Chinese tradition does not rank whole years as lucky or unlucky to be born in — every animal has strengths and weaknesses. The one combination widely treated with caution is the Fire Horse, and 2023 is not a Fire Horse year.