July 4 zodiac sign: Cancer, second decan
If you were born on July 4, your sign is Cancer, the water sign ruled by Moon: the Sun is in Cancer on this date in every year from 1980 to 2030. The Sun sits about 12° into Cancer on this date, in the second decan, where Cancer's core takes on a Mercury flavour. Here's what the date fixes, and what only your birth time can tell you.
Your sign: Cancer
The cardinal water sign that protects what it loves and remembers everything.
A Cancer Sun is built around emotional intelligence. You feel the room before anyone has spoken; you know who's about to cry, who's lying, and who's having a bad week. This is a real gift. It's also exhausting. The world doesn't have an off switch for empathy, and you absorb things you didn't sign up to absorb.
- ElementWater
- ModalityCardinal
- RulerMoon
- SeasonJune 21 – July 22
The date fixes the Sun; the hour fixes the rest. A Cancer born July 4 around sunset has Capricorn rising, and a different first impression from one born at dawn. Your rising sign needs the birth time; the twelve Cancer Sun combinations show what each one changes.
Cancer dates, traits & compatibility → · What a Cancer birth chart looks like →
In the US (2000–2014), an average of 8,815 babies were born on each July 4, rank 363 of 366 dates; Cancer is number 3 of 12 signs (8.84%). What's the most common zodiac sign?
The Moon on July 4, 1980–2030
Across the 51 years from 1980 to 2030, the Moon at noon UTC on July 4 was most often in Leo (6 years) and least often in Taurus, Libra, and Scorpio (3 years each). Unlike the Sun, the Moon sign depends on the birth year. On July 4, 2026, the Moon moves from Aquarius into Pisces at 06:30 UTC.
- 1980 Pisces → Aries 08:46
- 1981 Leo
- 1982 Sagittarius
- 1983 Aries
- 1984 Virgo → Libra 21:27
- 1985 Aquarius
- 1986 Gemini
- 1987 Libra
- 1988 Pisces
- 1989 Cancer → Leo 14:37
- 1990 Scorpio → Sagittarius 06:35
- 1991 Pisces → Aries 03:33
- 1992 Virgo
- 1993 Capricorn
- 1994 Taurus
- 1995 Virgo → Libra 19:55
- 1996 Aquarius → Pisces 12:07
- 1997 Cancer
- 1998 Scorpio
- 1999 Pisces
- 2000 Leo
- 2001 Sagittarius → Capricorn 12:21
- 2002 Aries → Taurus 08:16
- 2003 Virgo
- 2004 Aquarius
- 2005 Gemini
- 2006 Libra
- 2007 Aquarius → Pisces 10:52
- 2008 Cancer → Leo 08:15
- 2009 Sagittarius
- 2010 Aries
- 2011 Leo
- 2012 Capricorn
- 2013 Taurus → Gemini 09:21
- 2014 Virgo → Libra 09:43
- 2015 Aquarius
- 2016 Cancer
- 2017 Scorpio
- 2018 Pisces
- 2019 Cancer → Leo 03:19
- 2020 Sagittarius → Capricorn 04:48
- 2021 Taurus
- 2022 Virgo
- 2023 Capricorn → Aquarius 17:30
- 2024 Gemini → Cancer 20:51
- 2025 Libra → Scorpio 09:33
- 2026 Aquarius → Pisces 06:30
- 2027 Cancer
- 2028 Sagittarius
- 2029 Aries
- 2030 Leo → Virgo 23:37
In 20 of those 51 years (39%) the Moon changed sign during July 4 itself, so in those years the birth time decides the Moon as well as the rising sign. Cells with an arrow mark them, with the UTC time of the change. The Moon was exactly new on July 4 in 1997, 2016, and 2027; it was never full on this date between 1980 and 2030.
Find your birth year. One sign means the Moon spent the whole UTC day there; an arrow means it changed sign that day, at the UTC time shown: born before it, the first sign; after it, the second. The Moon sign calculator settles it in seconds; your birth chart adds the rising sign and houses.
Times in UTC: a birth late in the evening in the Americas, or early in the morning in Asia, can fall on the neighbouring UTC date.
July 2026: full moon July 29, 2026, Aquarius · new moon July 14, 2026, Cancer.
Your decan: the second decan of Cancer
Each sign is divided into three 10° decans, and each decan has a sub-ruler that shades the sign's core. Degrees 10–20 of Cancer belong to Mercury: how you think, learn, communicate, and process information. Read it as Cancer with a Mercury accent — the water core is unchanged, the emphasis moves.
Three of Cups
Friendship · Celebration · Community. The card assigned to this ten-degree slice of the zodiac — a birthday card in the same sense a sun sign is a birthday sign: one lens on the date, not a verdict.
Read the Three of Cups in full on My Day Check →All the tarot cards for July 4: decan, sign, ruling planet and year card →
What the date can't tell you
The Sun is one placement out of ten. Your Moon sign changes every two to three days, so Cancers born on July 4 in different years have different Moons; your rising sign changes every two hours and needs a birth time and place. Those two carry most of what people mean by "personality" in a chart.
Born July 4? Add your year, time and place
Your Moon and rising depend on the year and hour. Computed here in a few seconds — then your full chart with a preview of its reading, no sign-up.
Your big three
- Sun
- Moon
- Rising
If you want it read afterwards: the full reading of your chart, written by AI, is $3.99, one-time. See a sample reading
Or browse the twelve possibilities: Cancer Sun with each Moon → · just my Moon sign · how the free birth chart calculator works
Classic matches for a July 4 birthday
By sun sign, Cancer pairs most easily with Scorpio, Pisces, Taurus, Virgo. Sun-sign compatibility is the coarse layer; the couple reading compares both full charts.
Common questions
What zodiac sign is July 4?
July 4 is Cancer, the cardinal water sign ruled by Moon. The Sun sits at roughly 12° Cancer on this date, in the second decan.
What decan is July 4?
The second decan of Cancer (10°–20°), sub-ruled by Mercury. Decans divide each sign into three 10° slices; the sub-ruler adds a second flavour to the sign's core — here how you think, learn, communicate, and process information.
What tarot card is July 4?
In the Golden Dawn system each decan has a minor arcana card: for the second decan of Cancer it is the Three of Cups (friendship, celebration, community). It's a birthday card in the same way a sun sign is — one lens, not a verdict.
What Moon sign is someone born on July 4?
It depends on the year, and in 39% of years on the hour too. For example: in 1980, Pisces or Aries; in 1990, Scorpio or Sagittarius; in 2000, Leo; in 2010, Aries; in 2020, Sagittarius or Capricorn. Over 1980–2030 the Moon on July 4 was most often in Leo. A birth time and place pin it down.
Does everyone born on July 4 have the same chart?
No. They share the Sun in Cancer, but the Moon changes sign every two to three days, the rising sign every two hours, and the outer planets by year. Two people born July 4 in different years can have almost nothing else in common in their charts.