Born in 1955: the Goat

Wood Goat is the full name of the 1955 sign. Its traditional two-part year name is 乙未 (yǐwèi), which puts it at number 32 of 60, and 1955 is a yin year, the cycle's quieter, more reflective half. Expect the Goat's usual traits (gentle, creative, empathetic) with a cooperative, growth-minded and quietly generous edge from the Wood element.

The 1955 lunar year ran from January 24, 1955 up to the day before Chinese New Year 1956 (February 12, 1956). If you were born on or after January 24, 1955 you are a Goat; if you were born earlier in 1955, you belong to the previous year's sign, the Horse. Someone born in 1955 turns 71 in 2026 (or 70 until their birthday for the year).

Calendar note: 1955's Chinese New Year fell on a Monday, and that lunar year ran 384 days — a long, 13-month year with an inserted leap month.

What the Wood element adds

Wood is the element of spring, growth and cooperation. A Wood year tends to soften an animal's sharper edges and push it toward teamwork, patience and building things that last rather than chasing quick wins.

The full 60-year cycle pairs each of the 12 animals with each of the 5 elements, so a Wood Goat year comes around only once every 60 years — the last one before 1955 was 1895, and the next is 2015. People born in it are said to combine gentle and creative with the element's cooperative nature. Every Goat year is yin (the quieter, inward type). See the Wood element and the full Wood Goat profile.

1955 at a glance

Animal	🐐 Goat (羊)
Element	Wood
Yin or yang	yin
Traditional year name	乙未 (yǐwèi)
Place in the 60-year cycle	32 of 60
Zodiac year runs	January 24, 1955 to February 11, 1956
Age in 2026	70–71
Traditional best match	Horse
Traditional hardest match	Ox
Lucky numbers	3, 4, 9
Lucky colors	green, red, purple

Goat compatibility

In the traditional chart, a 1955 Goat gets on best with the Horse (the "secret friend" pairing), and also with Rabbit and Pig. The hardest pairing is the Ox, six years apart in the cycle. See the full Goat compatibility table.

Where a birthday around 1955 lands

The zodiac year does not follow the calendar year, so 1955 is spread across two calendar years. This table shows exactly which animal a birthday gets.

Birthday	Zodiac animal
January 1 to January 23, 1955	Horse (the 1954 year)
January 24, 1955 to December 31, 1955	Goat
January 1, 1956 to February 11, 1956	Goat (still the 1955 year)
February 12, 1956 onward	Monkey (the 1956 year)

Zodiac years ahead for a 1955 Goat

The next own-sign year for someone born in 1955 is 2027, around age 72, then 2039, around age 84. 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.

The element pair: 1955 and 1954

Wood years come in pairs. 1955 is the yin year and 1954 is the yang year, the Horse. So a 1955 Goat and a 1954 Horse share an element and sit one year apart in the cycle. The traditional chart rates the Goat and Horse pairing as excellent: one of the six classic 'secret friend' pairings — a naturally supportive, stabilizing match. See the Goat and Horse pairing.

Other Goat years

1931 1943 1967 1979 1991 2003 2015 2027 2039

Full Goat personality profile →   Goat compatibility with every sign →

Know your exact birth date? Use the calculator for your full combination →

What a Wood year changes for the Goat

Talking. What marks a 1955 Goat in conversation is the Wood element: it leans further into action, saying yes before thinking it all the way through.

Work. Expect a 1955 Goat to work with more willingness to cooperate than most, because Wood softens and adds patience to the sign's usual approach. The element affects execution more than the field.

Love. In 1955's Wood version, the Goat shows affection through steady cooperation over time, since wood is the element of spring, growth and cooperation.

For the sign as a whole (how the Goat communicates, works and loves in every element) see the Goat profile. This page covers what is different about 1955.

Known Goats

Bill Gates was born in the 1955 lunar year, an exact Wood Goat match for this page. Other well-known Goats, from other years, include Julia Roberts, Nicole Kidman and Mick Jagger. A shared sign says nothing about how anyone's life goes; these are simply familiar names to put to the sign.