Korean Zodiac (Ddi): 12 Animals and How Koreans Talk About Them

The Korean zodiac is called ddi (띠, also romanized tti). It is a 12-year cycle of animals that starts with the Rat and ends with the Pig, and your ddi is the animal of the year you were born. In Korea it works as a friendly shortcut for age, personality jokes and a bit of compatibility small talk.

The animals match the Chinese zodiac. What is Korean is the wording, the habits around it, and the link to saju (사주 四柱, “four pillars”), the Korean way of reading a birth chart. Each animal stands for one of the twelve earthly branches. Those same branches appear all through a saju chart.

This guide covers the 12 animals, their elements and hours, the phrases you will hear in Korea, and where ddi fits in a full chart.

What “ddi” means

Ddi is a native Korean word, so it has no hanja (Chinese character). Put it after an animal name and you get a sign: jwi-tti (쥐띠) is a Rat person, dwaeji-tti (돼지띠) is a Pig person. The more formal term for the twelve is sibiji (십이지 十二支, “the twelve branches”). Those are the earthly branches, or jiji (지지 地支).

The cycle has been part of Korean life for a long time. Encyclopedias of Korean New Year customs note that Koreans follow a zodiac identical to the Chinese one, with twelve animals in a fixed order beginning with the Rat. One folk story told in Korea says the Buddha invited all the animals to visit, and only twelve came. They got the years in the order they arrived.

The 12 animals at a glance

#	Animal	Korean ddi	Branch	Element	Double-hour	Recent years
1	Rat	쥐띠 jwi-tti	子 ja	Water	23:00–01:00	2008, 2020
2	Ox	소띠 so-tti	丑 chuk	Earth	01:00–03:00	2009, 2021
3	Tiger	호랑이띠 horang-i-tti	寅 in	Wood	03:00–05:00	2010, 2022
4	Rabbit	토끼띠 tokki-tti	卯 myo	Wood	05:00–07:00	2011, 2023
5	Dragon	용띠 yong-tti	辰 jin	Earth	07:00–09:00	2012, 2024
6	Snake	뱀띠 baem-tti	巳 sa	Fire	09:00–11:00	2013, 2025
7	Horse	말띠 mal-tti	午 o	Fire	11:00–13:00	2014, 2026
8	Goat/Sheep	양띠 yang-tti	未 mi	Earth	13:00–15:00	2015, 2027
9	Monkey	원숭이띠 wonsung-i-tti	申 sin	Metal	15:00–17:00	2016, 2028
10	Rooster	닭띠 dak-tti	酉 yu	Metal	17:00–19:00	2017, 2029
11	Dog	개띠 gae-tti	戌 sul	Earth	19:00–21:00	2018, 2030
12	Pig	돼지띠 dwaeji-tti	亥 hae	Water	21:00–23:00	2019, 2031

Two notes on the table. The hours are the standard double-hours, before any local-time correction. The years are approximate at the edges, because the animal does not switch on January 1. More on that below.

Each branch also has an element: wood, fire, earth, metal or water. Wood animals (Tiger, Rabbit) sit in spring, fire animals (Snake, Horse) in summer, metal animals (Monkey, Rooster) in autumn and water animals (Pig, Rat) in winter. The four earth animals (Ox, Dragon, Goat, Dog) sit at the turns between seasons.

Small Korean differences worth knowing

Pig, not Boar. Korean says dwaeji (돼지), the ordinary pig. Some English sources translate the twelfth animal as Boar. In Korea it is a pig, and usually a cheerful one.

Goat or Sheep, both fine. The Korean word yang (양) covers both animals, so you will see “Year of the Goat” and “Year of the Sheep” for the same year. Neither is wrong.

Colors from the stem. A year has a stem as well as a branch. The stem adds an element, and Korean tradition gives each element a color in the five-direction palette called obangsaek (오방색 五方色): blue-green for wood, red for fire, yellow for earth, white for metal and black for water. So 2026, 丙午 byeong-o, is a fire year with a Horse branch, and you will hear it called the year of the “red horse.” 2027, 丁未 jeong-mi, is another fire year, this time with a Goat.

How Koreans actually use ddi

“무슨 띠예요?” (Museun tti-yeyo?), “What’s your ddi?” Age shapes how Koreans speak to each other, but asking someone’s age straight out can feel blunt. Asking for their animal is softer, and it usually does the job. If someone says “Rabbit” and looks about thirty, you can do the maths.

띠동갑 (tti-dong-gap), “same-ddi age mates.” People born exactly twelve years apart share an animal. Coworkers, siblings or couples with a twelve-year gap often joke about being tti-dong-gap. Being 24 years apart counts too, which gets a laugh.

New Year talk. Around the New Year, greeting cards, shop windows and TV segments feature the year’s animal. People ask what the new animal “means” for them, mostly for fun.

Personality teasing. Friends tease each other with zodiac clichés: the Tiger is bold, the Ox is patient, the Monkey is clever, the Pig is easygoing. These are folk images, not rules. Most Koreans treat them the way people elsewhere treat star-sign jokes.

When does your animal change?

This is the question that trips people up, and there are three answers.

Saju practice: the year, and so the animal, changes at Ipchun (입춘 立春, “start of spring”), a solar term around February 4.
Everyday lunar custom: many people switch at Seollal (설날), the Lunar New Year, which falls between late January and mid-February.
Casual talk: some people just use the calendar year.

None of these is “wrong.” They come from different calendars. If you were born in January or early February, it is worth checking. You may be a different animal depending on which rule you use.

Ddi is one piece of a bigger chart

In saju your ddi is the year branch, one of eight characters in the chart (사주팔자 saju palja 四柱八字, “four pillars, eight characters”). The year, month, day and hour of birth each give a pillar of two characters, a heavenly stem on top and an earthly branch below.

Practitioners usually say the most personal part of the chart is not the year animal but the day stem. It is called the day master (일간 ilgan), the “you” of the chart. Two Rat-year people can have very different charts. Ddi is a friendly front door, not the whole house.

FAQ

What is my Korean zodiac animal?

Find your birth year in the table above. If you were born in January or early February, check the date too. Saju changes the year at Ipchun, around February 4, while everyday custom often switches at the Lunar New Year. For example, someone born in mid-January 2026 counts as a Snake under both rules, even though the calendar says 2026.

Is the Korean zodiac the same as the Chinese zodiac?

The twelve animals and their order are the same, and they sit on the same twelve earthly branches. The differences are in language and custom. Korean says Pig rather than Boar, uses one word for Goat and Sheep, and uses ddi in everyday phrases like “What’s your ddi?” and tti-dong-gap for people twelve years apart.

Why do Koreans ask “What’s your ddi?”

Age affects how Koreans address each other, from word endings to titles like “older sister” or “older brother.” Asking someone’s age directly can feel abrupt, so asking for their zodiac animal is a gentler way to work it out. It also opens light conversation about personality clichés, which makes it a common icebreaker.

Does my zodiac animal decide my personality?

In saju symbolism the year animal is only one of eight characters, so it carries a small part of the picture. The day master, your day stem, is traditionally read as the core of the chart. Zodiac personality lines are best enjoyed as folk images and conversation starters, not as descriptions of who you must be.

Try it with the Moon Rabbit

Curious what sits beyond your ddi? The Moon Rabbit can draw your free saju card in about 30 seconds at sajubunny.com, with no sign-up. If you like details, the pro chart shows all eight characters, including your year animal.

Saju is a cultural tradition, not a science. SajuBunny readings are for fun and self-reflection, not professional advice.

Sources

For fun and self-reflection. Saju is a traditional way of looking at yourself, not a prediction or professional advice.