Rat, Tiger, Dragon or something else? An introduction to Korea’s twelve birth-year animals.
Sources reviewed: 2026-10-07
Tti is a repeating twelve-year cycle
Tti (띠) refers to a birth-year animal. The cycle runs Rat, Ox, Tiger, Rabbit, Dragon, Snake, Horse, Sheep, Monkey, Rooster, Dog and Pig, then repeats. You may see Sheep translated as Goat or Ram.
One animal, different calendar boundaries
A quick year-only calculator uses the Gregorian birth year. Lunar New Year and the solar term Ipchun are other boundaries used in different traditions. A January or early-February birthday may therefore produce a different result depending on the convention. Our finder explicitly uses the January 1 birth-year convention.
A doorway into Korean folklore
Zodiac animals appear in traditional art, stories and cultural symbolism. Enjoy learning the names and stories without treating an animal as a scientific prediction of personality or compatibility. The National Folk Museum is a useful place to explore the tradition further.