January belongs to two signs. People born from 1 to 19 January are Capricorn and those born from 20 to 31 January are Aquarius. Both are ruled by Saturn in traditional astrology, yet they are opposite in manner: Capricorn is the earth sign that builds, Aquarius the air sign that questions what was built. The table below gives the exact moment the Sun moved from one to the other in each birth year.

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The moment the Sun enters Aquarius, for each birth year

Universal Time (UTC). Add or subtract the time zone of the birthplace.

The decans of January

Capricorn Until the 19th, Aquarius from the 20th

Capricorn is a cardinal earth sign, practical, patient and ambitious in a quiet way, the sign of people who take the long road and arrive. Aquarius is a fixed air sign, independent, curious about ideas and systems, and loyal to principles more than to custom. Saturn rules both, which gives January people of either sign a serious streak and a respect for effort; modern astrologers add Uranus for Aquarius, and with it the taste for doing things differently. The change from earth to air is a change from doing to thinking, from the career to the cause.

Born on 19, 20 or 21 January

The Sun does not change sign at midnight on a fixed date. Across the birth years 1940 to 2040 it entered Aquarius on 20 January in 84 years, on 19 January in 10 and on 21 January in 7, in Universal Time. A birthday on the 20th is therefore usually Aquarius but not always, and the hour of birth can settle it. Look up the year in the table, then allow for the time zone of the birthplace: a morning birth in California falls hours earlier on the world clock than the same clock time in London.

Early January and Late January

The first two thirds of the month share Capricorn's steadiness. These are the people astrology describes as reliable under pressure, dry in humour and slow to trust, who are often more successful at forty than at twenty. The last third belongs to Aquarius and reads differently: friendlier on the surface, harder to pin down, drawn to groups, technology and reform, and inclined to keep feelings at a slight distance. What the two share is self-sufficiency. Neither asks for much help, and both would rather be respected than fussed over.

January in the Calendar and the Sky

January is named for Janus, the Roman god of doorways, who looks both backward and forward. Its birthstone is the garnet and its flowers are the carnation and the snowdrop. In the sky the Quadrantid meteor shower peaks in the first days of the month, and around the same time the Earth reaches perihelion, its closest point to the Sun, which surprises people in the northern winter. For the southern half of the world January is high summer, a reminder that the signs follow the Sun's position and not the weather.

Frequently asked

What zodiac sign is January?

Capricorn for birthdays from 1 to 19 January and Aquarius from 20 to 31 January.

Is 20 January Capricorn or Aquarius?

Aquarius in most years. The Sun entered Aquarius on 20 January in 84 of the 101 years from 1940 to 2040, so check the birth year and time if you were born that day.

What is the birthstone for January?

The garnet. The birth flowers are the carnation and the snowdrop.

January birthdays, day by day

The two signs

Zodiac signs, month by month