1980 Chinese Zodiac: Metal Monkey

01 / Check the boundary

What is my Chinese zodiac if I was born in 1980?

Two zodiac signs fall within the Gregorian year 1980. Choose the row containing your birthday. These dates include both the first and last day; the animal changes at Chinese New Year, not on January 1.

1980 birth dates and zodiac signs
Gregorian birthday	Animal & year element
January 1, 1980 – February 15, 1980	Earth Goat 羊
February 16, 1980 – December 31, 1980	Metal Monkey 猴

The full 1980 lunar year continues into 1981, through February 4, 1981. A birthday on February 15, 1980 belongs to the Goat; a birthday one day later, on February 16, 1980, belongs to the Monkey.

YOUR STORY STARTS HERE

When were you born?

02 / The story of the year

What kind of Monkey is 1980?

1980 is a Metal Monkey year. Its stem-branch name is 庚申 (gēng-shēn): the heavenly stem 庚 carries yang metal, and the earthly branch 申 corresponds to the Monkey.

Zodiac animal: Monkey · 猴
Year element: Metal
Stem & branch: 庚申 · gēng-shēn
Lunar year length: 355 days

Monkey personality in tradition

The Monkey is often associated with cleverness and playfulness, familiar qualities in Chinese storytelling.

The phrase “curious & inventive” describes a traditional association with this animal, rather than a rule about everyone born in 1980. The year element is one part of the calendar; it does not establish a person's complete five-elements or Bāzì chart.

我属猴。

Wǒ shǔ hóu. “I was born in the Year of the Monkey.”

Monkey compatibility in folklore

Monkey, Rat and Dragon form a traditional harmony group of three. Tiger sits opposite Monkey, six places away in the twelve-animal cycle. These describe symbolic positions, not evidence of who will make a good partner.

Explore traditional pairings →

03 / A closer look at the dates

1980 lunar calendar at a glance

This Monkey year contains 12 lunar months and 355 days. There is no leap lunar month in this year. A leap month keeps the same animal and year element. The table follows the full lunar year, so its final months extend into 1981.

Lunar months of 1980: Gregorian start and end dates
Lunar month	Begins	Ends	Days
Month 1	February 16, 1980	March 16, 1980	30
Month 2	March 17, 1980	April 14, 1980	29
Month 3	April 15, 1980	May 13, 1980	29
Month 4	May 14, 1980	June 12, 1980	30
Month 5	June 13, 1980	July 11, 1980	29
Month 6	July 12, 1980	August 10, 1980	30
Month 7	August 11, 1980	September 8, 1980	29
Month 8	September 9, 1980	October 8, 1980	30
Month 9	October 9, 1980	November 7, 1980	30
Month 10	November 8, 1980	December 6, 1980	29
Month 11	December 7, 1980	January 5, 1981	30
Month 12	January 6, 1981	February 4, 1981	30

04 / Follow the cycle

Other Years of the Monkey

The Monkey returns every 12 years; the same Metal Monkey combination returns every 60. These are the other Monkey years in our 1901–2100 directory. Their New Year dates differ, so open a year to check its exact birthday boundary.

1908Earth Monkey 1920Metal Monkey 1932Water Monkey 1944Wood Monkey 1956Fire Monkey 1968Earth Monkey 1992Water Monkey 2004Wood Monkey 2016Fire Monkey 2028Earth Monkey 2040Metal Monkey 2052Water Monkey 2064Wood Monkey 2076Fire Monkey 2088Earth Monkey 2100Metal Monkey

Sources & calendar convention

Dates are calculated from our local lunar-month dataset. The links below provide the Observatory’s calendar for this Gregorian year and an explanation of the stem-branch cycle. Cultural interpretations are introductory folklore, not predictions.