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Famous people born on February 17

♒ Your birth constellation: Aquarius

Traditional dates: January 20 – February 18

Aquarius is a large but faint constellation in the southern sky. The ancient Babylonians associated this area of sky with the god Ea, who was depicted pouring water. In Greek tradition, it represented Ganymede, the cup-bearer to the gods. The Age of Aquarius, a concept from astrology, is based on the precession of equinoxes and has no fixed astronomical start date.

The zodiac system was created by Babylonian astronomers around 500 BCE as a coordinate system for tracking the Sun, Moon, and planets along the ecliptic. The twelve signs divide the ecliptic into 30-degree segments. Due to the precession of equinoxes — a 26,000-year wobble of Earth's axis — the astrological dates no longer correspond to the actual constellations the Sun passes through. Modern astronomy treats the zodiac as a historical coordinate system, not a personality framework.

Read more about the astronomical history of the zodiac in our complete zodiac guide.

🐇 Chinese zodiac: Rabbit (Water)

In the traditional Chinese calendar, 1963 is a year of the Rabbit with the element Water. The Chinese zodiac (shengxiao) is a repeating 12-year cycle, with each year associated with an animal. Combined with the five elements (Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal, Water), the full cycle takes 60 years.

The Rabbit (or Hare) is associated with the Moon in Chinese mythology — the Jade Rabbit is said to live on the Moon, pounding herbs to make the elixir of life. This legend dates back to the Warring States period (475–221 BCE) and appears in literature across East Asia, including Japan and Korea.

The Chinese zodiac is a cultural and calendrical tradition with roots stretching back over 2,000 years. It was originally tied to astronomical observations of Jupiter's roughly 12-year orbital period. While widely used in East Asian cultures for festivals, naming customs, and social tradition, it is best understood as cultural heritage rather than a predictive system.

Explore the full Chinese zodiac cycle in our Chinese zodiac guide.