Born in 2025: the Snake

2025 is a yin year, a Wood Snake. In the traditional calendar it carries the two-part name 乙巳 (yǐsì), year 42 of the 60-year cycle. The Wood element adds a cooperative, growth-minded and quietly generous streak to the Snake's base character (wise, private, elegant), and this is the quieter, more reflective half of the cycle.

The 2025 lunar year ran from January 29, 2025 up to the day before Chinese New Year 2026 (February 17, 2026). If you were born on or after January 29, 2025 you are a Snake; if you were born earlier in 2025, you belong to the previous year's sign, the Dragon. Someone born in 2025 turns 1 in 2026 (or 0 until their birthday for the year).

Calendar note: 2025's Chinese New Year fell on a Wednesday, 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 Snake year comes around only once every 60 years — the last one before 2025 was 1965, and the next is 2085. People born in it are said to combine wise and private with the element's cooperative nature. Every Snake year is yin (the quieter, inward type). See the Wood element and the full Wood Snake profile.

2025 at a glance

Animal	🐍 Snake (蛇)
Element	Wood
Yin or yang	yin
Traditional year name	乙巳 (yǐsì)
Place in the 60-year cycle	42 of 60
Zodiac year runs	January 29, 2025 to February 16, 2026
Age in 2026	0–1
Traditional best match	Monkey
Traditional hardest match	Pig
Lucky numbers	2, 8, 9
Lucky colors	red, light yellow, black

Snake compatibility

In the traditional chart, a 2025 Snake gets on best with the Monkey (the "secret friend" pairing), and also with Ox and Rooster. The hardest pairing is the Pig, six years apart in the cycle. See the full Snake compatibility table.

Where a birthday around 2025 lands

The zodiac year does not follow the calendar year, so 2025 is spread across two calendar years. This table shows exactly which animal a birthday gets.

Birthday	Zodiac animal
January 1 to January 28, 2025	Dragon (the 2024 year)
January 29, 2025 to December 31, 2025	Snake
January 1, 2026 to February 16, 2026	Snake (still the 2025 year)
February 17, 2026 onward	Horse (the 2026 year)

Zodiac years ahead for a 2025 Snake

The next own-sign year for someone born in 2025 is 2037, around age 12, then 2049, 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: 2025 and 2024

Wood years come in pairs. 2025 is the yin year and 2024 is the yang year, the Dragon. So a 2025 Snake and a 2024 Dragon share an element and sit one year apart in the cycle. The traditional chart rates the Snake and Dragon 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 Snake and Dragon pairing.

Other Snake years

1941 1953 1965 1977 1989 2001 2013 2037

Full Snake personality profile →   Snake compatibility with every sign →

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

What a Wood year changes for the Snake

Talking. In conversation, a Wood Snake leans further into action, saying yes before thinking it all the way through, which is the main way 2025's version differs from the same animal born under another element.

Work. Wood softens and adds patience to the Snake's usual working style, so a 2025 Snake tends to run things with more willingness to cooperate than most. The kind of work the sign suits stays the same; the element changes how the job gets done.

Love. Wood is the element of spring, growth and cooperation, so in a relationship a Wood Snake shows affection through steady cooperation over time.

For the sign as a whole (how the Snake communicates, works and loves in every element) see the Snake profile. This page covers what is different about 2025.

Known Snakes

Well-known Snakes — sharing the animal though not this exact 2025 birth year or Wood element — include Oprah Winfrey, Taylor Swift, Muhammad Ali, Sarah Jessica Parker. None of the people listed here were born in the 2025 lunar year, but they're commonly cited as examples of the Snake's wise streak.