2004 Chinese Zodiac: Wood Monkey

01 / Check the boundary

What is my Chinese zodiac if I was born in 2004?

Two zodiac signs fall within the Gregorian year 2004. 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.

2004 birth dates and zodiac signs
Gregorian birthday	Animal & year element
January 1, 2004 – January 21, 2004	Water Goat 羊
January 22, 2004 – December 31, 2004	Wood Monkey 猴

The full 2004 lunar year continues into 2005, through February 8, 2005. A birthday on January 21, 2004 belongs to the Goat; a birthday one day later, on January 22, 2004, belongs to the Monkey.

YOUR STORY STARTS HERE

When were you born?

02 / The story of the year

What kind of Monkey is 2004?

2004 is a Wood Monkey year. Its stem-branch name is 甲申 (jiǎ-shēn): the heavenly stem 甲 carries yang wood, and the earthly branch 申 corresponds to the Monkey.

Zodiac animal: Monkey · 猴
Year element: Wood
Stem & branch: 甲申 · jiǎ-shēn
Lunar year length: 384 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 2004. 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

2004 lunar calendar at a glance

This Monkey year contains 13 lunar months and 384 days. Month 2 repeats as a leap month, starting March 21, 2004. A leap month keeps the same animal and year element. The table follows the full lunar year, so its final months extend into 2005.

Lunar months of 2004: Gregorian start and end dates
Lunar month	Begins	Ends	Days
Month 1	January 22, 2004	February 19, 2004	29
Month 2	February 20, 2004	March 20, 2004	30
Leap month 2	March 21, 2004	April 18, 2004	29
Month 3	April 19, 2004	May 18, 2004	30
Month 4	May 19, 2004	June 17, 2004	30
Month 5	June 18, 2004	July 16, 2004	29
Month 6	July 17, 2004	August 15, 2004	30
Month 7	August 16, 2004	September 13, 2004	29
Month 8	September 14, 2004	October 13, 2004	30
Month 9	October 14, 2004	November 11, 2004	29
Month 10	November 12, 2004	December 11, 2004	30
Month 11	December 12, 2004	January 9, 2005	29
Month 12	January 10, 2005	February 8, 2005	30

04 / Follow the cycle

Other Years of the Monkey

The Monkey returns every 12 years; the same Wood 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 1980Metal Monkey 1992Water 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.