The Monkey represents people born in 2016 under the Chinese zodiac calendar.
2016 was a Fire Monkey year, beginning with Lunar New Year on February 8, 2016. Because the zodiac year follows a lunisolar calendar, people born in January or early February may belong to the preceding Goat year rather than Monkey year, depending on the system used and the exact date.
Monkey is the ninth animal in the standard sequence, after Goat and before Rooster. Popular traditional interpretations associate the sign with cleverness, curiosity, flexibility, and playfulness. These descriptions are cultural symbolism, not scientifically established personality tests.
The element matters because the animal-only label is incomplete in the traditional 60-year cycle. Fire Monkey years recur every 60 years, so the previous one was 1956 and the next will be 2076. Different countries and communities may use slightly different date conventions around Lunar New Year, but the 2016 calendar association is stable for the lunar year beginning in February.