Year of the Goat: Years List, Traits & Compatibility

Recent Years of the Goat: 1955, 1967, 1979, 1991, 2003, 2015, 2027. The sign returns every 12 years; the next one after 2015 is 2027. Each occurrence pairs the Wei (未) branch with a different Heavenly Stem, so the same animal appears as Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal, and Water versions across a 60-year cycle.

A zodiac year starts at Lunar New Year, not on January 1. Lunar New Year falls between January 21 and February 20, so anyone born in that window should check the exact start date in the table below before assuming the sign.

The 2015 Year of the Goat (Wood Goat, Yi-Wei 乙未) runs from February 19, 2015 to February 7, 2016, while Li Chun, the year-pillar boundary used by many Bazi schools, falls on February 4, 2015. The next Year of the Goat begins on February 6, 2027. A Chinese zodiac year does not start on January 1. The popular zodiac year begins at Lunar New Year (late January to mid-February), while many Bazi schools change the year pillar at the Li Chun solar term (around February 4). Use the table to check a January or February birthday against both boundaries.

In the Chinese calendar the Goat is a label for Wei (未), the 8th of the twelve Earthly Branches. Wei is Yin Earth. It marks the two-hour period of 1–3 pm, the south-southwest direction, and late summer.

In a Bazi chart Wei is also the branch of the 6th solar month, which begins at the Xiao Shu (小暑, Minor Heat) solar term. Its hidden stems are Ji 己 (Yin Earth), Ding 丁 (Yin Fire), Yi 乙 (Yin Wood). Those hidden stems are why the same animal can read differently from one chart to another: they interact with the Day Master in ways the animal symbol does not show.

The traditional relationships are fixed by branch position rather than by personality:

• Six combination (Liu He): Goat and Horse.
• Triad (San He): Pig, Rabbit, Goat, which together form a Wood frame.
• Clash (Chong): Goat and Ox, the branch six places away.
• Six harm (Liu Hai): Goat and Rat.

These pairings describe how the branches interact in a calendar or chart. They are not a verdict on any relationship, and a full Bazi comparison looks at all four pillars of both people. The compatibility chart lists the same patterns for every sign.

Popular zodiac writing describes Goat people as creative, gentle, and community-minded. Treat that as cultural symbolism attached to the Wei branch, not as a personality test: the year animal is one of eight characters in a birth chart, and the Day Master (the stem of the day pillar) carries more weight in a Bazi reading.

2026 is a Bing-Wu (丙午) Fire Horse year. For the Goat, Wu is a six-combination (Liu He) partner. The 2026 forecast explains how that relationship is usually read, and why it should be checked against the full chart.