Skip to content
StarMap
Your StarMapMenu

Zodiac sign · Cardinal water · ruled by the Moon

Cancer

Cancer is the Sun sign of anyone born while the Sun is in Cancer: in 2026, from 21 June 2026, 08:25 UTC to 22 July 2026, 19:13 UTC. The dates move by up to a day from year to year, so a birthday at either end needs the year, and sometimes the hour, to settle its sign. The Sun is next in Cancer from 21 June 2027.

Cancer is a cardinal water sign ruled by the Moon; its symbol is the crab. Astrologers read it for the way it protects. Of the 6,194 well-known people in StarMap's dataset, 483 have the Sun in Cancer for the whole of their birth date; Nelson Mandela, George W. Bush and Lionel Messi are among them. 37 more were born on a day the Sun entered or left Cancer and are left out, because the hour decides and StarMap has no birth time for them.

Nelson Mandela and George W. Bush were both born with the Sun in Cancer.Is your Sun in Cancer?Draw your birth chart, free: your Sun, Moon and rising sign from the real sky

Cancer dates, year by year

YearThe Sun enters Cancerand leaves
202521 June 2025, 02:43 UTC22 July 2025, 13:30 UTC
202621 June 2026, 08:25 UTC22 July 2026, 19:13 UTC
202721 June 2027, 14:10 UTC23 July 2027, 01:04 UTC
202820 June 2028, 20:02 UTC22 July 2028, 06:54 UTC

The Sun is next in Cancer from 21 June 2027. The dates are the same everywhere on Earth, in UTC; in a time zone far from Greenwich the entry can fall on the evening before or the morning after.

Born on the edge: 21 June and 22 July

  • 21 June, the first day of Cancer season this year, is shared with Gemini. Since 1900, the Sun was in Cancer all day in 5 years, in Gemini all day in 36, and changed sign during the day in 86, when the hour and place of birth decide.
  • 22 July, the last day of Cancer season this year, is shared with Leo. Since 1900, the Sun was in Cancer all day in 86 years, and changed sign during the day in 41, when the hour and place of birth decide.

The three decans of Cancer in 2026

Astrologers divide each sign into three decans of ten degrees, and read the second and third as coloured by the other two water signs (Scorpio and Pisces). The Sun takes about ten days to cross each.

  • Decan 1 · 0° to 10° · 21 June 2026, 08:25 UTC to 1 July 2026, 20:05 UTC
  • Decan 2 · 10° to 20° · 1 July 2026, 20:05 UTC to 12 July 2026, 07:46 UTC
  • Decan 3 · 20° to 30° · 12 July 2026, 07:46 UTC to 22 July 2026, 19:13 UTC

Cancer traits

Cancer protects. The sign is read for feeling and memory: a sensitivity to mood that notices the room before anyone speaks, a strong attachment to home and to its own people, and a long memory for kindness and for slights. A Cancer Sun tends to be caring in practical ways, private about its own needs, and tougher than its soft reputation suggests.

The shadow side is the shell: moodiness, a tendency to retreat and sulk rather than say what is wrong, and a care for others that can turn into control. Astrologers describe the sign's work as learning to ask for what it gives so freely.

Cancer in love

In love, Cancer commits. It wants a home with someone in it, and it shows love by looking after: the meal, the blanket, the message to check you got back. It is easily hurt and slow to say so. Its lesson is that a partner cannot read the mood it is hiding, however well it reads theirs.

Cancer at work

At work, Cancer looks after the people and the place: teams, students, guests, clients, the running of a household or a business that feels like one. It is good with history and continuity and bad with cold, impersonal systems. Loyalty runs both ways; a Cancer that feels valued stays for decades.

What people get wrong: that Cancer is weak. The crab has a shell and claws, and the sign's tenacity about the people and places it has decided are its own is among the strongest in the zodiac. The softness is real; so is the grip.

A Sun sign is one placement of ten. The Moon, the rising sign and the planets change how it plays out: a Cancer Sun with a Capricorn Moon reads differently from one with the Moon in Cancer too. Draw your whole chart to see yours.

Famous Cancer Suns

All 483 famous Cancer Suns, best known first, each with a birth chart.

Cancer in the rest of the chart

The Sun is not the only body that can be in Cancer. Each of these has its own page: what it means, who has it, and when the body is in Cancer.

Cancer and the other signs

  • Same element (water): Scorpio and Pisces, a trine apart, read as the signs that understand Cancer without trying.
  • Opposite: Capricorn, six months away, read as the sign Cancer is drawn to and argues with.
  • Same modality (cardinal): Libra and Aries, a square apart, the friction that gets things done.
  • Two signs either side: Virgo and Taurus, a sextile apart, easy company of a different kind.

Cancer with every sign, each pairing with the famous couples who have it: Aries, Taurus, Gemini, Cancer, Leo, Virgo, Libra, Scorpio, Sagittarius, Capricorn, Aquarius, Pisces.

Sun signs are the roughest measure of two people. Compare two whole charts for the aspects between them.

Questions people ask

What are the Cancer dates?

In 2026 the Sun is in Cancer from 21 June 2026, 08:25 UTC to 22 July 2026, 19:13 UTC. Most years it enters on 21 June or the day either side and leaves on 22 July or the day either side; the table above gives the minute for each year. A birthday on one of those edge days needs the year, and sometimes the time and place of birth, to settle its sign.

Is 21 June a Cancer or a Gemini?

Not always. 21 June is the first day of Cancer season in 2026, but the Sun's sign on that date depends on the year: of the 127 years from 1900 to 2026, in 5 the Sun was in Cancer all day, in 36 it was in Gemini all day and in 86 it entered Cancer during the day, so the hour and the place of birth decide. The birthday page for 21 June lists every year.

Is 22 July a Cancer or a Leo?

Not always. 22 July is the last day of Cancer season in 2026, but the Sun's sign on that date depends on the year: of the 127 years from 1900 to 2026, in 86 the Sun was in Cancer all day and in 41 it left Cancer for Leo during the day, so the hour and the place of birth decide. The birthday page for 22 July lists every year.

What planet rules Cancer?

The Moon. The ruler is read as the sign's manner: where the Moon sits in a Cancer Sun's own chart colours how the sign shows.

What element is Cancer?

Water, with Scorpio and Pisces: the three water signs sit a third of the zodiac apart and are read as easy company for one another. Cancer is also cardinal, like Libra and Aries and Capricorn, which share its way of acting and are read as the signs it rubs against.

Which famous people are Cancer?

Nelson Mandela, George W. Bush, Lionel Messi, Elon Musk and Gerald Ford all have the Sun in Cancer. StarMap lists 483 well-known Cancer Suns, each with a birth chart computed from their birth date and place.

Are Cancer men and Cancer women different?

Not in the chart: astrology reads the Sun in Cancer the same way whatever a person's gender. What people describe as the Cancer man is usually Mars in a chart, how someone pursues what they want, and the Cancer woman Venus or the Moon, how they love and what they need; each has its own page for Cancer, with the famous people who have it.

Cancer horoscopes

Dates are computed from the Sun’s position with the astronomy-engine ephemeris, checked against Swiss Ephemeris, in the tropical zodiac. Birth data comes from Wikidata; a person is listed only when the Sun was in Cancer for the whole of their birth date. Readings describe tendencies, for entertainment and self-reflection; StarMap predicts nothing. All twelve signs.

Photo credits (12 photos from Wikimedia Commons)

Each link opens the photo’s page on Wikimedia Commons, which states its author and licence.