Chinese age calculator

Date of birth

On this date

Nominal age —

The same age, other ways

Exactly —

In months —

In weeks —

In days —

In hours —

Born on a —

Next birthday —

Days to go —

Turning —

Note Enter a date of birth

Increments at Lunar New Year

Traditional Chinese nominal age (虚岁) counts a newborn as one and adds a year at each Lunar New Year. It therefore runs one or two years ahead of the international count, depending on whether the New Year has passed.

How Chinese nominal age works

1 Enter the date of birth.

2 Read the nominal age against the international one.

3 The increment falls at Lunar New Year, not 1 January.

4 Modern official use in China follows the international count.

The system reflects a different underlying idea: that the year of life you are currently in is the number you state, rather than the number completed. It is the same logic that makes a building floor "the first floor" at ground level in some countries. Mainland China uses international age officially and has done for decades, but nominal age still appears in traditional contexts, astrology, and among older speakers.

Questions

What is nominal age? −

The traditional East Asian count where you are one at birth and gain a year at each New Year.

When does it increase? +

Is it still used in China? +

Why count from one? +

How does it relate to Korean age? +

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