The Year of the Rooster, Personality, Compatibility & Fortune
Observant, honest, and precise, the zodiac's disciplined craftsman.
Fixed element means the element and polarity that belong to the Rooster itself, in every year. It is a separate thing from the element of your birth year, which changes on a 60 year cycle and is what gives each of the Rooster sign names below its Yin or Yang.
Were you born in a Rooster year?
Find your birth year below. The date matters: a Rooster year does not start on 1 January, so anyone born in the weeks before that year's Chinese New Year belongs to the sign before it. Each year links to a full page for that exact sign.
| Year | Sign | Year begins | Born before that date? |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1933 | Water Rooster | January 26 | You are a Water Monkey |
| 1945 | Wood Rooster | February 13 | You are a Wood Monkey |
| 1957 | Fire Rooster | January 31 | You are a Fire Monkey |
| 1969 | Earth Rooster | February 17 | You are a Earth Monkey |
| 1981 | Metal Rooster | February 5 | You are a Metal Monkey |
| 1993 | Water Rooster | January 23 | You are a Water Monkey |
| 2005 | Wood Rooster | February 9 | You are a Wood Monkey |
| 2017 | Fire Rooster | January 28 | You are a Fire Monkey |
| 2029 | Earth Rooster | February 13 | You are a Earth Monkey |
| 2041 | Metal Rooster | February 1 | You are a Metal Monkey |
The Rooster in the year ahead
Each lunar year lands differently on each sign, depending on how that year's animal and element sit with your own. Read the full year-by-year forecast for the Rooster:
Personality of the Rooster
The Rooster is Yin Metal, refined, precise, articulate. Rooster-year people wake early (literally, often), notice everything, and hold standards, for themselves and everyone around them. They are the craftspeople, editors, and performers of the zodiac, the ones who polish work until it shines. Their directness can bruise softer signs, but they are almost always saying what needs to be said.
Core Traits
Strengths
Roosters notice details others overlook. They have high standards for themselves and the work they produce, and they show up reliably. Their honesty is refreshingly direct.
Challenges
Roosters can be perfectionist, critical of others, and opinionated. Their confidence can tip into vanity, their precision into nitpicking.
Career & Work Style
Rooster-year people thrive in work that rewards their natural gifts, observant, hardworking, precise, and gives room for their distinctive approach. Best-fit career tracks include:
Natural careers: Surgeon, critic, accountant, editor, engineer, performer, teacher, dentist.
Rooster Compatibility
Compatibility in the Chinese zodiac is governed by the four trines and the six clashing pairs. Here's how the Rooster connects with other signs.
Best Matches
These signs naturally harmonize with Rooster energy, bringing complementary strengths and mutual understanding.
Lucky Colors, Numbers & Directions
These traditional associations work best as small, everyday cues, wearing a lucky color to an important meeting, choosing a phone number with lucky digits, or timing significant actions to the Rooster's hours (17:00–19:00).
Your Full Chart Goes Deeper Than Your Zodiac Year
Being a Rooster is one of eight characters in your complete Energy Chart. Your birth month, day, and hour each carry their own animal and element, and the interaction between all four pillars is what creates your actual personality, not the year alone.
Two Roosters born in different months can have very different charts. A Rooster born during a Dragon hour reads differently than one born during a Snake hour. The zodiac sign is the first brushstroke; the full Energy Chart is the portrait.
Is it the Rooster or the Chicken or Cock?
The Chinese name simply means the bird, without specifying sex, so "chicken" is the more literal rendering. "Rooster" became standard in English because the sign is associated with the dawn call, and it avoids the ambiguity of the older word "cock".
Whichever name you have seen, it is the same position in the twelve-year cycle and the same sign. Nothing about the reading changes.
Getting on with a Rooster
Compatibility charts tell you which signs pair easily. They do not tell you how to actually handle the person in front of you. For the Rooster:
Be prepared and be precise. Roosters notice detail and respect competence.
Do not be vague or careless; sloppiness reads as disrespect to them.
Health and energy for the Rooster
In Eastern energy terms, Metal governs the Lungs & Large Intestine and the feeling of grief processed into clarity. For a Metal Rooster, deep breathing, decluttering and a daily release ritual keep Metal clear instead of brittle.
This is the traditional Eastern reading of the Rooster's signature element, Metal — a description of where your energy tends to run high or thin, not medical advice. Which element your own chart is actually short of depends on all four pillars, not the year alone.
The 5 Rooster Signs
Every Rooster comes in five element versions across the 60 year cycle, and your exact sign depends on the year you were born. Find yours below to read its full personality and energy profile.
The Yin in each name below comes from the year stem, the character the calendar pairs with the Rooster in that year, rather than from the Rooster itself. In this case the two happen to agree, since the Rooster's own fixed element is also Yin Metal.
Explore the Other Animals
Frequently asked questions
What is the Rooster personality like?
What years are Rooster years?
Who is the Rooster most compatible with?
What careers suit the Rooster?
What are the Rooster's strengths and weaknesses?
What are the Rooster's lucky colors and numbers?
See Your Full Chart, Not Just Your Year
Enter your exact birth date, time, and place. We'll generate your complete Energy Chart with all four pillars, your core element, and your Five Element balance, showing you what your Rooster year sign alone cannot.