Korean lunar birthday calculator (음력 생일)
Enter your birthday to see your lunar birthday in the Korean calendar — and the solar date it falls on this year and the next five years.
What a lunar birthday is
The Korean lunar calendar (음력, eumnyeok) counts months from new moon to new moon, so each month has 29 or 30 days and a year has 12 months — or 13 in a year with a leap month (윤달). Your lunar birthday is your birth date in that calendar. Because the lunar year is shorter than the solar one, your lunar birthday moves around the solar calendar from year to year.
Many older Koreans still celebrate on their lunar birthday, and the biggest holidays — Seollal (lunar new year) and Chuseok (the 15th day of the 8th lunar month) — are lunar dates.
Leap months and the 30th day
If you were born in a leap month, most families celebrate in the regular month with the same number, since the leap month itself returns only every few years. And if you were born on the 30th day of a month that has only 29 days this year, the celebration usually moves to the 29th.
Lunar calendar vs saju
Here is a common mix-up: saju is not calculated from the lunar calendar. Saju months follow the 24 solar terms of the solar year, and the saju year begins at Ipchun (about February 4) — not at Seollal. So for your four pillars, your solar birth date is what counts. Why the saju year starts in February →
Questions
What is my lunar birthday?
It is your birth date written in the Korean lunar calendar — the month and day of the moon cycle you were born in. Because lunar months follow the moon, your lunar birthday lands on a different solar date every year.
Why do some Koreans celebrate lunar birthdays?
Many older Koreans grew up with the lunar calendar and still celebrate their birthday on its lunar date. Seollal and Chuseok, the biggest holidays, are lunar dates too, as are many family memorial rites.
Is the Korean lunar calendar the same as the Chinese one?
Almost always. Korea calculates the calendar on Korean time, so in rare years a new moon — and with it a lunar date — falls one day apart from the Chinese calendar.
Do I need my lunar birthday for saju?
No. Saju months follow the 24 solar terms of the solar year, so your solar birth date is what matters. If you only know your lunar birthday, our birthday form converts it for you.