1991 Chinese Zodiac: Year of the Metal Goat

沉浸 TeamAugust 26, 20264 min read

The 1991 Chinese zodiac animal is the Goat. More precisely, 1991 was the Year of the Metal Goat (辛未 xīnwèi): the zodiac year ran from February 15, 1991 to February 3, 1992. If you were born in that window, your Chinese zodiac sign is the Goat (羊 yáng).

One catch before anything else: the zodiac year follows the lunar calendar, not January 1. Born in 1991 before February 15? Then you belong to the previous animal, the Metal Horse. The next section has the exact dates.

1991 Chinese zodiac at a glance

Animal: Goat (羊 yáng), the eighth of the 12 zodiac animals
Element: Metal (金 jīn)
Traditional name: 辛未 (xīnwèi) in the 60-year cycle
Dates: February 15, 1991 to February 3, 1992
Lucky numbers: 2, 7
Lucky colors: green, red, purple

Born in January or February 1991?

Chinese New Year fell on February 15 in 1991. So:

Born January 1 to February 14, 1991: you're a Metal Horse (horse year 1990), not a Goat.
Born February 15 or later in 1991: you're a Metal Goat.

This is the single most common mistake people make with the Chinese zodiac. When a January or February birthday is involved, always check the new year date before assuming the animal.

The Metal Goat personality

Goats (also called Sheep or Ram years) are the zodiac's artists: kind, imaginative, and deeply empathetic. They notice beauty other people walk past and take care of everyone around them. They need security and appreciation to do their best work.

Metal is the element of structure and will. It adds discipline, high standards, and real persistence. In the 60-year cycle each animal pairs with one of five elements, so a Metal Goat (born 1991) reads a little different from Goats of other years: the metal side colors how the goat's core traits show up.

Strengths:

Creative and artistic
Gentle and empathetic
Generous team player
Resilient in quiet ways

Watch out for:

Worries too much
Indecisive under pressure
Sensitive to criticism

Goats do beautiful work in art, music, design, teaching, and healing professions.

1991 zodiac compatibility

Traditional Chinese astrology groups the 12 animals into "trines" of three signs that share a temperament, and pairs each sign with a "secret friend" and one clash.

Best matches for the Goat: the Rabbit and the Pig (trine partners), plus the Horse, the Goat's secret friend.
Trickiest match: the Ox, the Goat's opposite on the zodiac wheel.

Treat this as folk wisdom rather than fate. Plenty of happy couples "clash" on paper, and Chinese families today read these charts with a wink more often than a frown.

How to say it in Chinese

羊 (yáng): goat
生肖 (shēngxiào): Chinese zodiac sign
我属羊 (wǒ shǔ yáng): "I'm a Goat." The verb 属 (shǔ) means "to belong to"
本命年 (běnmìngnián): your own zodiac year, when your animal comes back around

Born in 1991? Your next 本命年 is 2027, the next Goat year after 2026. Tradition says to wear red that year for luck.

Want to go beyond the zodiac? Create a free Chenjin account to hear words like 羊 and 生肖 pronounced by native-quality audio, save them as flashcards, and start reading real Chinese stories at your level.

Other Goat years

1967: Fire Goat (February 9, 1967 to January 29, 1968)
1979: Earth Goat (January 28, 1979 to February 15, 1980)
2003: Water Goat (February 1, 2003 to January 21, 2004)
2015: Wood Goat (February 19, 2015 to February 7, 2016)
2027: Fire Goat (February 6, 2027 to January 25, 2028)

Read the full Year of the Goat guide for the personality in depth, or look up a different birth year on the Chinese zodiac overview.

1991 Chinese zodiac FAQ

What animal is 1991 in the Chinese zodiac?

1991 is the Year of the Goat. Anyone born from February 15, 1991 to February 3, 1992 is a Goat; a birthday earlier in 1991 belongs to the Year of the Horse.

What element is 1991?

Metal. The full sign for 1991 is the Metal Goat (辛未 xīnwèi), a combination that repeats only once every 60 years.

How old is someone born in 1991?

Someone born in 1991 turns 35 in 2026, or is still 34 if their birthday hasn't come around yet this year. In traditional Chinese age counting (虚岁 xūsuì), you'd add one more, since babies are counted as one year old at birth.