Moon sign calculator (rashi) by date of birth
A free Moon sign calculator: enter a date and time of birth to find your Moon sign, called the rashi in Vedic astrology, with the nakshatra, pada and the traditional first letter for a baby’s name. The Moon’s position is calculated in your browser.
How the rashi is found from a date of birth
Your rashi is the sign the Moon was in when you were born. The calculator converts the local date and time to universal time, computes the Moon’s longitude along the ecliptic and subtracts the Lahiri ayanamsa (the gap between the tropical and the sidereal zodiac, 24°12′ at the start of 2025) to get its sidereal longitude. Each rashi is 30° of that circle, starting with Mesh at 0°, so a Moon at 93°59′ is 3°59′ into the fourth sign, Kark.
The same moment gives the nakshatra (13°20′ each) and the pada (3°20′), and the pada gives the naming syllable.
Examples
- 15 August 1947, 00:00 IST (the chart of India's independence): Moon at 3°59′ in Kark rashi, Pushya pada 1, first letter Hu.
- 1 January 2000, 06:00 IST: Moon at 13°41′ in Tula rashi, Swati pada 3, first letter Ro.
- 26 January 2025, 10:30 IST: Moon at 1°06′ in Dhanu rashi, Mula pada 1, first letter Ye.
Why the time of birth matters
The Moon moves about half a degree an hour. On 2 January 2024, for example, it moved from Singh into Kanya at about 18:29 IST, so a baby born that morning and one born that evening have different rashis. If you do not know the time, tick “time not known” and the tool lists every rashi and nakshatra of the day with the time of each change.
The 12 rashis by Moon position
| Rashi | Moon between | Lord | Nakshatra padas | Name letters |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mesh मेष (Aries) | 0°–30° | Mars | Ashwini 1–4, Bharani 1–4, Krittika 1 | Chu, Che, Cho, La, Li, Lu, Le, Lo, A |
| Vrishabh वृषभ (Taurus) | 30°–60° | Venus | Krittika 2–4, Rohini 1–4, Mrigashira 1–2 | I, U, E, O, Va, Vi, Vu, Ve, Vo |
| Mithun मिथुन (Gemini) | 60°–90° | Mercury | Mrigashira 3–4, Ardra 1–4, Punarvasu 1–3 | Ka, Ki, Ku, Gha, Ng, Chha, Ke, Ko, Ha |
| Kark कर्क (Cancer) | 90°–120° | Moon | Punarvasu 4, Pushya 1–4, Ashlesha 1–4 | Hi, Hu, He, Ho, Da, Di, Du, De, Do |
| Singh सिंह (Leo) | 120°–150° | Sun | Magha 1–4, Purva Phalguni 1–4, Uttara Phalguni 1 | Ma, Mi, Mu, Me, Mo, Ta, Ti, Tu, Te |
| Kanya कन्या (Virgo) | 150°–180° | Mercury | Uttara Phalguni 2–4, Hasta 1–4, Chitra 1–2 | To, Pa, Pi, Pu, Sha, Na, Tha, Pe, Po |
| Tula तुला (Libra) | 180°–210° | Venus | Chitra 3–4, Swati 1–4, Vishakha 1–3 | Ra, Ri, Ru, Re, Ro, Ta, Ti, Tu, Te |
| Vrishchik वृश्चिक (Scorpio) | 210°–240° | Mars | Vishakha 4, Anuradha 1–4, Jyeshtha 1–4 | To, Na, Ni, Nu, Ne, No, Ya, Yi, Yu |
| Dhanu धनु (Sagittarius) | 240°–270° | Jupiter | Mula 1–4, Purva Ashadha 1–4, Uttara Ashadha 1 | Ye, Yo, Bha, Bhi, Bhu, Dha, Pha, Dha, Bhe |
| Makar मकर (Capricorn) | 270°–300° | Saturn | Uttara Ashadha 2–4, Shravana 1–4, Dhanishta 1–2 | Bho, Ja, Ji, Khi, Khu, Khe, Kho, Ga, Gi |
| Kumbh कुंभ (Aquarius) | 300°–330° | Saturn | Dhanishta 3–4, Shatabhisha 1–4, Purva Bhadrapada 1–3 | Gu, Ge, Go, Sa, Si, Su, Se, So, Da |
| Meen मीन (Pisces) | 330°–360° | Jupiter | Purva Bhadrapada 4, Uttara Bhadrapada 1–4, Revati 1–4 | Di, Du, Tha, Jha, Na, De, Do, Cha, Chi |
Learn more
- Nakshatra calculator by date of birth: the same calculation with the birth star first.
- Sade Sati calculator: with the Moon sign found here, see whether Saturn’s Sade Sati or Dhaiya is on and its dates.
- Lagna calculator: the rising sign (ascendant), its degree and nakshatra, from the date, time and place of birth.
- Atmakaraka calculator: the planet furthest through its sign and the other chara karakas, from the date and time of birth.
- Mangal dosha calculator with Lagna: the rising sign and the house of Mars, which need the place of birth as well.
- Tarabalam calculator: check a day’s nakshatra against your birth star.
- Tithi calculator by date of birth: the birth tithi, paksha, yoga and karana.
- Rashi by name: the rashi of a name from its first syllable, when the birth details are not known.
- Rashi name finder and baby names by rashi.
- The 12 rashis explained and the baby name finder.
- Lucky number by date of birth and baby name by date of birth: the numerology of the same date.
Frequently asked questions
How do I find my rashi by date of birth?
Enter the date, the time and the UTC offset of the place of birth. The tool works out where the Moon was in the sidereal zodiac at that moment; the 30° sign it was in is the rashi (Moon sign). It also gives the nakshatra and pada, and the traditional first syllable for a baby's name.
Why does the time of birth matter?
The Moon moves about 13° a day, so it changes rashi every two to three days. On a day when it changes, babies born in the morning and in the evening can have different rashis. Without a time the tool shows every rashi the Moon was in that day, with the time of each change.
What does this rashi calculator give me?
The rashi (Moon sign) at the moment of birth, the nakshatra and pada the Moon was in, and the traditional first letters for a baby's name from that rashi and pada. With no birth time it lists every rashi and nakshatra of the day instead, with the time of each change.
What is my Moon sign and how is it different from my zodiac sign?
Your Moon sign is the sign the Moon was in at your birth. The zodiac sign most people quote is the Sun's sign in the tropical zodiac, which comes from the date alone. The Moon changes sign every two to three days, so the Moon sign needs the date and ideally the time, and Vedic astrology measures it in the sidereal zodiac, which sits about 24° behind the tropical one.
Can this calculator find my lagna (ascendant)?
No. The lagna depends on the exact time and the latitude and longitude of the birthplace, while this tool reads only the Moon's position from the date, time and UTC offset, so it does not guess one. The Lagna calculator on this site works out the lagna (ascendant) from the date, time and place of birth.
Is my rashi the same as my zodiac sign?
Usually not. The zodiac sign in Western horoscopes is the Sun's sign in the tropical zodiac. The rashi is the Moon's sign in the sidereal zodiac, which in this century sits about 24° behind the tropical one. The two are measured from different bodies, so they often differ.
Which ayanamsa does this calculator use?
Lahiri (Chitrapaksha), the ayanamsa adopted by the Government of India's Calendar Reform Committee and used by most Indian panchangs. A calculator that uses another ayanamsa, such as Raman or Krishnamurti, can give a different rashi when the Moon is near the edge of a sign.
How accurate is the result?
The Moon's position is computed in your browser from a standard lunar theory and was checked against published ephemerides at twelve dates from 1905 to 2099, agreeing within a few hundredths of a degree. When the Moon was within half a degree of the edge of a rashi, nakshatra or pada, the tool says so, because an error of an hour in the birth time could change the answer.