Born in 2023: the Rabbit

Anyone born in 2023 is a Water Rabbit. The year's traditional two-part name is 癸卯 (guǐmǎo), number 40 in the 60-year cycle, and it is a yin year, the quieter, more reflective half of the cycle. The base Rabbit traits (gentle, tactful, observant) come filtered through an adaptable, perceptive and persuasive Water tone.

The 2023 lunar year ran from January 22, 2023 up to the day before Chinese New Year 2024 (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. Someone born in 2023 turns 3 in 2026 (or 2 until their birthday for the year).

Calendar note: 2023's Chinese New Year fell on a Sunday, and that lunar year ran 384 days — a long, 13-month year with an inserted leap month.

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. Every Rabbit year is yin (the quieter, inward type). See the Water element and the full Water Rabbit profile.

2023 at a glance

Animal	🐇 Rabbit (兔)
Element	Water
Yin or yang	yin
Traditional year name	癸卯 (guǐmǎo)
Place in the 60-year cycle	40 of 60
Zodiac year runs	January 22, 2023 to February 9, 2024
Age in 2026	2–3
Traditional best match	Dog
Traditional 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.

Where a birthday around 2023 lands

The zodiac year does not follow the calendar year, so 2023 is spread across two calendar years. This table shows exactly which animal a birthday gets.

Birthday	Zodiac animal
January 1 to January 21, 2023	Tiger (the 2022 year)
January 22, 2023 to December 31, 2023	Rabbit
January 1, 2024 to February 9, 2024	Rabbit (still the 2023 year)
February 10, 2024 onward	Dragon (the 2024 year)

Zodiac years ahead for a 2023 Rabbit

The next own-sign year for someone born in 2023 is 2035, around age 12, then 2047, around age 24. 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: 2023 and 2022

Water years come in pairs. 2023 is the yin year and 2022 is the yang year, the Tiger. So a 2023 Rabbit and a 2022 Tiger share an element and sit one year apart in the cycle. The traditional chart rates the Rabbit and Tiger pairing as moderate: it has no special bond or conflict, so how well it goes depends on the two people more than on the calendar. See the Rabbit and Tiger pairing.

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 →

What a Water year changes for the Rabbit

Talking. The Water element shows up in how a 2023 Rabbit speaks: it gets more strategic about it, choosing words to manage how the other person reacts. Another element on the same animal would sound different.

Work. In 2023 the Water element deepens and adds subtlety to the Rabbit's habits at work, so this version runs things with more patience for reading the room than most. It changes the style, not the choice of career.

Love. A 2023 Rabbit shows affection in quieter, more perceptive ways. That follows from the element: water is the element of winter, depth and adaptability.

For the sign as a whole (how the Rabbit communicates, works and loves in every element) see the Rabbit profile. This page covers what is different about 2023.

Known Rabbits

Angelina Jolie, David Beckham, Michael Jordan, Brad Pitt are among the names most often cited as Rabbits, though none of them was born in the 2023 lunar year. They're referenced here as examples of the animal's gentle streak generally, not proof of what a Water Rabbit specifically looks like.