Mutal Unnie › Practical Saju guides

2027 Red Sheep babies
— using Saju for birth date selection, prenatal nicknames and naming

2026-10-24 · Mutal Unnie editorial team

What zodiac animal is a 2027 baby, and when does the Year of the Sheep start?

Babies born from Ipchun at 10:46 a.m. Korea time (KST) on February 4, 2027 are Sheep of the Jeongmi year. Saju treats Ipchun — not January 1 and not Seollal, the Lunar New Year — as the start of the year. That's why the everyday zodiac animal and the Saju zodiac animal can differ for babies born in January and February.

Jeong (丁) is Fire (火) among the Five Elements, and the color of Fire is red, hence the “Red Sheep” (the same animal is also called the Goat in English). More on what 2027 means is in the 2027 Jeongmi year of the Red Sheep.

Can I use Saju to choose my baby's birth date?

Use it only as a reference for choosing within the date range your medical team sets. For a planned delivery or a C-section, the health of mother and baby, the week of pregnancy and the hospital's schedule come first. We don't recommend moving a medically advised date earlier or later because of Saju.

What date selection actually looks at is covered in How to choose a good day.

How are the Five Elements used in Saju baby naming?

Traditionally, you look at which elements are scarce or abundant in the baby's birth chart and add balance through the characters of the name. Name-makers use different criteria, such as jawon ohaeng (the element carried by a hanja's meaning or radical) and bareum ohaeng (the element of the name's initial consonant sounds).

A scarce element isn't automatically the energy you most need. The difference is explained in How to find your Useful God. In Korea, a name written in hanja (Chinese characters) must use characters from the list of hanja for personal names set by the Supreme Court, and the birth must be reported within one month.

Should a baby's prenatal nickname (taemyeong) follow Saju too?

A taemyeong only needs to be a sweet nickname that's easy to say. In Korea, parents usually give their baby a taemyeong, a nickname used during pregnancy. It isn't officially recorded and is used before the baby is born, so it can't be matched to a Saju whose birth date and time aren't known yet.

These days, some parents think of 2027's Fire (火) and Earth (土) energy and pick warm, sturdy words such as “Haetsal” (sunshine) or “Dodam” (growing up healthy and strong). If you want it to carry meaning, the best place to start is putting your family's wish into a single word.

What should I record now to read my baby's Saju later?

Keep the date and time of birth, down to the minute. In Korea, the Family Relationship Certificate doesn't show the time of birth, so finding it later often means digging through hospital records.

1. Keep a copy of the birth certificateCheck that the time is written on the birth certificate the hospital gives you.
2. Write the date in the Gregorian calendarDon't convert it to the lunar calendar; keep the Gregorian date and the local clock time (Korea time for a birth in Korea) exactly as they are.
3. Note it in a family app or notebook tooIf it lives in only one place, it's easy to lose.
4. Flag the time for births near IpchunFor babies born around February 4, a few minutes can change the zodiac animal.

Where to find the birth time is covered in How to find your birth time, and what you can still read without it in If you don't know your birth time.

Start with today's rhythm

Available on iPhone and Android. Daily rhythm cards and adding events are free. Check the cost before opening a paid reading. Store availability and app language support depend on the listing.