Is May 20 Taurus or Gemini? The two border days
| Birthday | Taurus all day | Sign changed that day | Gemini all day |
|---|---|---|---|
| May 20 | 60 (PT 48) | 36 (PT 48) | 0 (PT 0) |
| May 21 | 0 (PT 0) | 60 (PT 48) | 36 (PT 48) |
Number of years out of 96, 1930 to 2025, US Eastern time; Pacific time in brackets. Every other day of May was the same sign in all 96 years in both time zones.
Your birth year. In US Eastern time the Sun entered Gemini on May 20 in these 36 years: 1948, 1952, 1956, 1960, 1964, 1968, 1972, 1976, 1980, 1981, 1984, 1985, 1988, 1989, 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2001, 2004, 2005, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2024, 2025. In every other year from 1930 to 2025 it entered on May 21. So if your year is on the list, May 20 was Taurus until the change and Gemini after it, and May 21 was Gemini all day. If it is not, May 20 was Taurus all day and May 21 turned Gemini during the day. In Pacific time the change came three hours earlier on the clock. The calendar above gives the exact minute for your year.
Neither cusp day is a clean pick. By the Eastern clock, May 20 stayed Taurus all day in 60 Mays, and the Sun crossed into Gemini that day in 36 others. May 21 was never Taurus all day: the Sun crossed into Gemini that day in 60 Mays, and in 36 Mays it began as Gemini.
Every year from 1930 to 2030 with the minute of the change: May 20 zodiac sign by year · May 21 zodiac sign by year.
May Taurus: born May 1 to 20
May is the Taurus month. The Sun passes 10 degrees of Taurus around April 30 or May 1, so May covers the second and third decans of the sign and leaves the first almost entirely to April. In the Northern Hemisphere this is spring at its fullest, and the tradition pictures Taurus as patient, sensual people who like things to last.
From May 1 to about May 10 the decan belongs to the Moon by the classical faces and to Mercury by modern lists, and the Moon has its exaltation in Taurus. The Sun reached 20 degrees on May 10, 71 times in 96 Mays. After that the last third belongs to Saturn in both lists, and astrologers read those late-May Taurus people as the most serious about money and time.
May Gemini: born May 21 to 31
A May Gemini has barely begun the sign. In most years the Sun stays under ten degrees of Gemini until about May 30, so most May Geminis are in the first decan. The tradition files Gemini as mutable air under Mercury and pictures a curious, talkative person who changes plans easily and learns by asking.
The decan ruler differs by list. Modern lists give the first decan to Mercury, which already rules the sign, while the old faces assign it to Jupiter, which is in detriment there. One scheme therefore reads a May Gemini as pure Mercury, the other as a Gemini with a wide, restless appetite for ideas. The second decan begins on May 31 (77 of 96 Mays), so it is just arriving as the month ends.
May birthdays by decan
A decan is a 10° third of a sign, about ten days of the calendar. This is where each May birthday falls, with the Sun's position at noon:
| Born | Decan | Ruler (classical faces) | Ruler (modern) |
|---|---|---|---|
| May 1–10 | ♉︎ Second decan of Taurus | the Moon | Mercury |
| May 11–20 | ♉︎ Third decan of Taurus | Saturn | Saturn |
| May 21–31 | ♊︎ First decan of Gemini | Jupiter | Mercury |
Most common decan at noon US Eastern time, 1930 to 2025. Days where the answer changed with the year: May 10, May 11, May 20, May 21, May 31. Classical rulers from the table of faces (Chaldean order, as in Lilly's Christian Astrology); modern rulers as listed in Wikipedia's "Decan (astrology)".
Why the Taurus–Gemini change moves from year to year
The decades show the drift. May 20 crossings by decade: 0 for 1930 to 1939, 3 for 1960 to 1969, 6 for 1980 to 1989, 7 for 2010 to 2019. May 21 drops from 10 to 1, and the 2020 figure covers six Mays. The crossing time drifts earlier over the decades.
The time zone matters as well. Pacific clocks logged 48 years with the Sun entering Gemini on May 20, Eastern clocks 36. In 2026 the crossing came late on May 20: 8:37 p.m. by Eastern clocks, 5:37 p.m. by Pacific ones. In 2027 it waits until 2:17 a.m. Eastern on May 21, which is still May 20 on the West Coast, at 11:17 p.m.
When the Sun entered Gemini, 2021 to 2030
| Year | Eastern time | Pacific time |
|---|---|---|
| 2021 | May 20, 3:36 p.m. | May 20, 12:36 p.m. |
| 2022 | May 20, 9:22 p.m. | May 20, 6:22 p.m. |
| 2023 | May 21, 3:08 a.m. | May 21, 12:08 a.m. |
| 2024 | May 20, 8:59 a.m. | May 20, 5:59 a.m. |
| 2025 | May 20, 2:54 p.m. | May 20, 11:54 a.m. |
| 2026 | May 20, 8:37 p.m. | May 20, 5:37 p.m. |
| 2027 | May 21, 2:17 a.m. | May 20, 11:17 p.m. |
| 2028 | May 20, 8:09 a.m. | May 20, 5:09 a.m. |
| 2029 | May 20, 1:55 p.m. | May 20, 10:55 a.m. |
| 2030 | May 20, 7:40 p.m. | May 20, 4:40 p.m. |
Moment the Sun reached 0° Gemini, from the astronomy-engine ephemeris (tropical zodiac), rounded to the minute, with that year's daylight saving time.
Taurus and Gemini side by side: symbol, element, ruler
| ♉︎ Taurus | ♊︎ Gemini | |
|---|---|---|
| Symbol | ♉︎ Bull | ♊︎ Twins |
| Element | Earth | Air |
| Quality | Fixed | Mutable |
| Ruler | Venus | Mercury |
| Opposite sign | Scorpio | Sagittarius |
| Place in the zodiac | 2 of 12 | 3 of 12 |
Taurus is earth, fixed, under Venus; Gemini is air, mutable, under Mercury. One stays and one moves. Taurus holds a position for as long as it is worth holding, and Gemini holds a conversation for as long as it stays interesting. The Bull takes in the world through the senses and the Twins through questions. May moves the Sun from Taurus into Gemini.
Each sign in full: Taurus zodiac sign · Gemini zodiac sign.
Famous people born in May
May 20 and 21 are missing from the list below, which keeps only birthdays that belong to one sign for the entire day. Taurus has the longer run of May days, so you would expect it to have more names.
♉︎ May Taurus
- Adele, English singer-songwriterMay 5, 1988
- George Lucas, American filmmaker and philanthropistMay 14, 1944
- Mark Zuckerberg, American Internet entrepreneurMay 14, 1984
- Cate Blanchett, Australian actor and producerMay 14, 1969
♊︎ May Gemini
- Bob Dylan, American singer-songwriterMay 24, 1941
- Kylie Minogue, Australian singer and actressMay 28, 1968
Full birth charts with a recorded birth time, born in May: Audrey Hepburn (May 4, Taurus) · Adele (May 5, Taurus) · George Clooney (May 6, Taurus) · Megan Fox (May 16, Taurus) · Cher (May 20, Taurus) · Bob Dylan (May 24, Gemini) · Stevie Nicks (May 26, Gemini) · Brooke Shields (May 31, Gemini).
Birth dates from Wikidata, only people whose Sun was in the same sign for the whole birthday in every time zone. The chart pages use birth times on record.
May birthdays in US birth data
| Born in May | Share of May births |
|---|---|
| May 1–19 (Taurus) | 61.3% |
| May 20 and 21 (either) | 6.5% |
| May 22–31 (Gemini) | 32.2% |
May logged 5,195,445 US births across 2000 to 2014, or 11,173 per day, which puts May 6th out of twelve, just above the middle. Taurus days took 61.3 percent of them, the two cusp days 6.5 percent, and the Gemini end of the month 32.2 percent.
US births 2000 to 2014 from the Social Security Administration, as published by FiveThirtyEight: 5,195,445 May births. Average per day: 11,173.
Taurus and Gemini in love
Taurus and Gemini are neighbors on the wheel and share neither an element nor a quality. The tradition expects a slow partner and a fast one: Taurus wants the plan fixed, Gemini keeps rewriting it. It goes well when Gemini makes promises small enough to keep and Taurus allows a change of mind without taking it personally.
Taurus is usually matched with its earth companions Virgo and Capricorn, and Gemini with the air signs Libra and Aquarius. Earth is said to complement water, which brings in Cancer and Pisces for Taurus, while air complements fire, which brings in Aries and Leo for Gemini. A Sun sign settles none of this; full charts built from both birth dates say far more.
Taurus and Gemini compatibility · Taurus and Taurus · Gemini and Gemini · Taurus's soulmate · Gemini's soulmate · compatibility by two birth dates
Questions about May zodiac signs
Is May Taurus or Gemini?
Taurus first, then Gemini. Dates up to the 19th are always Taurus and dates from the 22nd on are always Gemini. Only two days in the middle need a look at the year.
Is May 20 Taurus or Gemini?
Taurus most of the time. 60 Mays kept it Taurus all day; in the rest the Sun reached Gemini before the date ended, and a birth in those last hours is Gemini.
Is May 21 Taurus or Gemini?
Gemini, though not always from midnight. A birth in the early hours of the 21st is Taurus in the 60 Mays when the Sun entered Gemini later that day; in the other 36 Mays it was Gemini from the first minute.
Is May 28 a Gemini?
Yes, in every year counted and by Eastern or Pacific clocks. May 28 is first decan; only May 30 or 31 can be second decan, depending on the year.
How do astrologers read a May Taurus?
By decan. The second decan, which ends around May 10, belongs to the Moon in the classical faces and Mercury in modern lists; the third belongs to Saturn in both.
Is May an earth sign or an air sign?
Both. Taurus brings earth and Gemini brings air, so May birthdays are earth for most of the month and air from late May.
Which symbol stands for May?
The Bull ♉ for Taurus and the Twins ♊ for Gemini.
Will a May birth time change my sign?
Just on May 20 and 21. Anywhere else in the month, the date alone gives your sign.
Sources
- Astronomy Engine: the open-source ephemeris library behind our planet positions, dates and statistics
- William Lilly, Christian Astrology (London, 1647): scan of the original edition
- Wikipedia: Decan (astrology): modern decan rulers
- Wikidata: birth dates of the famous people listed
- How we create our readings: our own calculation of sign dates, positions and the 1930 to 2025 statistics
Zodiac signs of the other months
- January: Capricorn to 18, Aquarius from 22
- February: Aquarius to 17, Pisces from 20
- March: Pisces to 18, Aries from 22
- April: Aries to 18, Taurus from 21
- May: Taurus to 19, Gemini from 22
- June: Gemini to 19, Cancer from 23
- July: Cancer to 21, Leo from 24
- August: Leo to 21, Virgo from 24
- September: Virgo to 21, Libra from 24
- October: Libra to 21, Scorpio from 25
- November: Scorpio to 20, Sagittarius from 24
- December: Sagittarius to 20, Capricorn from 23
Days that are always one sign, US Eastern and Pacific time, 1930 to 2025. The days between depend on the year. All twelve months in one table: zodiac signs by month. All twelve signs with the exact change by year: zodiac sign dates.
Written by The Zodiac Atlas editorial team with the help of AI and edited by a person. Every date, count and share on this page comes from our own run of the astronomy-engine ephemeris (tropical zodiac) over 1930 to 2025, with historical US time zone rules. Traits follow the Western tradition. Astrology is a symbolic tradition, not a science.