Zodiac Signs in Indonesian: All 12 Names & Meanings
The zodiac signs in Indonesian are the easiest set on this entire site to learn, because Indonesian kept the Latin names almost untouched. If you know the English signs you already know eleven of the twelve.
What Indonesian did change is the spelling, and it changed it systematically — Indonesian orthography is strictly phonetic, so anything that did not fit got rewritten. That, plus the fact that Indonesia runs three parallel astrological systems, is what this page is actually about.
All 12 Zodiac Signs in Indonesian
| English | Indonesian | Note | Dates |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aries | Aries | identical | 21 Maret – 19 April |
| Taurus | Taurus | identical | 20 April – 20 Mei |
| Gemini | Gemini | identical | 21 Mei – 20 Juni |
| Cancer | Cancer | also written Kanser | 21 Juni – 22 Juli |
| Leo | Leo | identical | 23 Juli – 22 Agustus |
| Virgo | Virgo | identical | 23 Agustus – 22 September |
| Libra | Libra | identical | 23 September – 22 Oktober |
| Scorpio | Scorpio | also written Skorpio | 23 Oktober – 21 November |
| Sagittarius | Sagitarius | one t | 22 November – 21 Desember |
| Capricorn | Capricorn | also written Kaprikornus | 22 Desember – 19 Januari |
| Aquarius | Aquarius | also written Akuarius | 20 Januari – 18 Februari |
| Pisces | Pisces | identical | 19 Februari – 20 Maret |
The Spelling Rules Behind the Variants
Indonesian spelling follows pronunciation, and the reformed orthography of 1972 pushed loanwords towards native spelling conventions. Three rules explain every variant in that table:
- Double consonants collapse. Indonesian does not use them, so Sagittarius became Sagitarius. This is the one change that is now standard rather than optional, and misspelling it as Sagittarius is the most common error in Indonesian astrology copy.
- C before a back vowel becomes K. Indonesian c is pronounced “ch”, so Cancer and Capricorn get respelled Kanser and Kaprikornus when fully naturalised. Both forms circulate; the Latin spellings dominate in media.
- Qu becomes Ku. Hence Akuarius alongside Aquarius.
In practice, Indonesian media overwhelmingly use the Latin spellings, with Sagitarius as the standard exception. If you are writing Indonesian content, that is the safe combination.
Zodiak, Shio and Weton: Indonesia’s Three Systems
This is where the real value sits for anyone searching in Indonesian, because a search for “zodiak” can mean three quite different things.
Zodiak
The Western zodiac — the twelve signs in the table above, based on your birth date. This is what zodiak means without further qualification.
Shio
The Chinese twelve-year animal cycle, based on your birth year: Tikus (Rat), Kerbau (Ox), Macan (Tiger), Kelinci (Rabbit) and so on. The word shio comes from Chinese 生肖 via Hokkien, reflecting Indonesia’s long-established Chinese-Indonesian community. Shio horoscopes run alongside zodiak ones in the same magazines, and around Lunar New Year they dominate.
Weton
The Javanese system, and the one with no equivalent anywhere else in this cluster. Weton combines the seven-day week with the five-day Javanese pasaran cycle — Legi, Pahing, Pon, Wage, Kliwon — producing a 35-day cycle. Your weton is the pairing that fell on your birth day, and it is still consulted in Java for choosing wedding dates and assessing compatibility.
So an Indonesian reader may hold three separate answers about themselves: a zodiak sign, a shio animal and a weton. None of them replaces the others.
Talking About Zodiac Signs in Indonesian
| English | Indonesian |
|---|---|
| zodiac sign | zodiak |
| star sign | bintang |
| horoscope, prediction | ramalan / ramalan bintang |
| astrology | astrologi / ilmu perbintangan |
| Chinese animal zodiac | shio |
| Javanese birth-day system | weton |
| birth chart | peta kelahiran |
| fire / earth / air / water sign | zodiak api / tanah / udara / air |
The phrases:
- Zodiakmu apa? — What’s your zodiac sign? (The -mu is “your”, attached to the noun.)
- Aku Scorpio. — I’m a Scorpio.
- Shio kamu apa? — What’s your animal sign?
- Khas banget Virgo. — So typically Virgo.
- Ramalan zodiak hari ini — today’s horoscope. A high-volume Indonesian search phrase.
Note ramalan, which means a prediction or forecast of any kind — it covers weather forecasts as readily as horoscopes. And bintang means star, so ramalan bintang is literally “star prediction”, the traditional heading for a horoscope column.
Why the Indonesian Names Are Latin
Indonesian took the zodiac through Dutch, during three centuries of colonial presence, and Dutch had itself taken the Latin names for the formal astronomical vocabulary even while using native words like Boogschutter and Weegschaal in everyday speech. Indonesian inherited the formal set.
Which puts Indonesian in an unusual position on this site: it is the only language here where the Western zodiac arrived through a colonial administrative language rather than through scholarship, translation or popular culture. Compare the zodiac signs in Dutch and you will see the two sets sitting side by side — the same twelve signs, one language keeping the Latin, the other having translated every image.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do you say “zodiac sign” in Indonesian?
Zodiak. A horoscope is ramalan or ramalan bintang, and bintang alone means star.
What are the 12 zodiac signs in Indonesian?
Aries, Taurus, Gemini, Cancer, Leo, Virgo, Libra, Scorpio, Sagitarius, Capricorn, Aquarius and Pisces — the Latin names, with Sagitarius spelled with one t.
Why is Sagittarius spelled “Sagitarius” in Indonesian?
Indonesian orthography does not use double consonants, so the second t was dropped. This spelling is standard, not a mistake.
What is the difference between zodiak and shio?
Zodiak is the Western zodiac, based on your birth date. Shio is the Chinese twelve-year animal cycle, based on your birth year. Both are widely used in Indonesia.
What is weton?
A Javanese system combining the seven-day week with the five-day pasaran cycle into a 35-day cycle. Your weton is the day-pairing you were born on, and it is still used in Java for choosing auspicious dates.
Are Indonesian and Malay zodiac names the same?
Very close. Malay uses the same Latin names, with minor spelling differences following each language’s orthographic conventions.
Zodiac Signs in Indonesian and the Language It Came Through
The clearest comparison is the zodiac signs in Dutch, the language Indonesian inherited these names from. For the other Latin-keeping lists, see Spanish and Italian. And for the animal cycle that shio comes from, the Chinese page explains how 生肖 differs from 星座.
All languages: zodiac signs in different languages.
