Previously, we explored the origins of the 12 distinct animals that symbolize each year in the Chinese New Year tradition.

As a reminder, the Chinese Zodiac, or shēngxiào, is an ancient classification system that assigns an animal and its associated traits to each year in a repeating 12-year cycle. These animals, in order, are the Rat, Ox, Tiger, Rabbit, Dragon, Snake, Horse, Goat, Monkey, Rooster, Dog, and Pig.

According to tradition, one's personality and fate are tied to their respective Chinese Zodiac animal, each possessing unique characteristics.

A child born in the Year of the Dragon is believed to be destined for success. This brings us to the auspicious recent Chinese New Year, marking the beginning of the Year of the Dragon.

The Dragon is the only mythical creature among the 12 animals of the Chinese Zodiac and is considered the most auspicious. Many believe that children born in this year are likely to achieve success and enjoy great fortune. Consequently, it's not uncommon for believers in the Chinese Zodiac to aim for their children to be born in the Year of the Dragon or even plan pregnancies accordingly.

In Malaysia, over the past two Chinese Zodiac cycles, there has been a notable increase in the birthrate of Malaysian-Chinese individuals during the Year of the Dragon. Data shared by Malaysian data scientist Thevesh on his X account illustrates this trend. A graph he created, based on Malaysian-Chinese birthrates from 1998 to 2022, reveals two significant spikes in 2000 and 2012, both of which were Years of the Dragon.

Specifically, there were 114,000 Malaysian-Chinese births in 2000 and 85,000 in 2012. In his caption, Thevesh remarked, "A few people DMed me about my dragon-year births comment asking if I was joking. Absolutely not, and here’s the proof! If you look at the Chinese birth rates in Malaysia over the past 2 Zodiac cycles, the Year of the Dragon absolutely ROARS. Can’t wait to see what happens in 2024."

It will be intriguing to observe whether this trend continues in the current Year of the Dragon, and if we'll witness a surge in "baby dragons" this year. 👀