We take them for granted, but some things about months are confusing; why do some months have 30 days, and others have 31, but February has 28? Speaking of February, why is it the one month with a silent r, making it easy to misspell? So, how did the months get named?
The months got their names from the Roman calendar. Some months are named after Roman gods, others after Roman leaders, and the rest were numbered. Since the original Roman calendar started with March, they considered December as the 10th month.
To understand the origin of the names of the month, you first need to know how the calendar was created. We will start there and then explore each month. Read on!
Month Name Origins
We follow what is known as the Gregorian calendar, named after a 16th-century pope. Reforms carried out under Gregory XIII fixed a problem that the Julian calendar caused for the Catholic church.
The spring, or vernal equinox, was used to calculate the date for Easter. Because of the Julian calendar’s inaccuracy, the vernal equinox no longer occurred on March 21st.
The fix was to shorten the calendar year. It was not by much—from 365.25 days to 365.2425 days (this is why we have leap years). To have the vernal equinox occur on March 21st again, Pope Gregory eliminated several days. When people went to sleep on October 4, 1582, they woke up the next morning to October 15.
Almost all countries now use the Gregorian calendar. However, the Julian calendar was named after Julius Caesar, and most of the months already had names, so to avoid more confusion, the names stuck. This is why most of the names have Latin roots.
Why December Was the Tenth Month
There is one more twist to this calendar mess, and it is related to why January and February are different from the others. Julius Caesar’s calendar was a reformed version of an earlier calendar developed by the first king of Rome, Romulus. In Romulus’s calendar, the days between December and March had no names.
He did not see the point of marking the days since there was no official business during that time—the Senate was closed, and the military was inactive. So, since March was the first month, December was the 10th. If Romulus’s calendar had a January and February, our October might be December, and August would be October, but that’s getting ahead of ourselves.
The Meaning of the Months
January
At the beginning of January, we look back at the previous year and forward to the new one. That’s why the Romans named January after Janus, the god who overlooked transitions—entrances, exits, passageways, and beginnings and endings. His name was closely related to the Roman word for door, and he was considered the gatekeeper of the heavens.
Janus was depicted as a two-headed god, able to see backward and forward at the same time. To celebrate the beginning of a new year, Romans gave gifts—sweets like dates and honey, and coins—that would symbolize a sweet, prosperous year.
February
February is not named after a god but after the festival Februa. The Roman god Februus came to be associated with this month of cleansing and purification. The festival Februa was initially celebrated on the 15th of the month, but eventually, the entire month became devoted to purifying, cleansing, and purging.
Details about the festival and purification rites are sketchy as its history is convoluted and intertwined with another festival, Lupercalia, that celebrated fertility. In the 5th century, Pope Gelasius outlawed the celebration.
Instead, he named the 14th of February after an early saint—Valentine. Centuries earlier, Emperor Claudius II had outlawed marriage. When it was discovered that Valentine was secretly performing marriages, Claudius ordered him to be killed.
The dreaded r- in February? We can thank the Februa festival for that.
March
Initially the first month in the old Roman calendar, March was named after the god of war, Mars. March was a month of festivals, beginning with the celebration to Mars on the first. Many of the festivals are related to Mars and war.
These included a day of chariot races dedicated to Mars, a feast day for Minerva, the Roman goddess of strategic warfare and wisdom, and a day devoted to purifying a sacred trumpet that signified the army was ready to start fighting again.
April
Flowers and buds open in early spring, which is why some people claim that April’s name is derived from the Latin words aprilis or aperit, which means “to open.” However, others claim that it is named after the Greek goddess Aphrodite.
The reasoning behind this theory is that the root of April, aprilis, comes from Aphrodite. The Romans called their goddess of love, Venus, and they did celebrate her on the first of April. So, why wouldn’t they name the month after Venus? Or, Ceres—the Roman goddess of agriculture?
Most of the other festivals of the month were agricultural, such as the Fordicia, where a pregnant cow was sacrificed, the Robigalia, which involved a dog sacrifice, and Vinalia, a wine festival.
Although there are several theories about the April Fool’s Day’s origin, no one knows for sure. That’s one thing April Fool’s Day and April have in common.
May
Maia was a Greek nymph and the mother of Hermes (who the Romans called Mercury). She became associated with the Maia Maiestas, the Roman goddess of spring.
May began with a sacrifice to Maia. A celebration to honor her son, Mercury, occurred on the 15th. May was a month with a few festivals. Farmers worked the fields, and soldiers were off at war, so fewer people were available for celebrations.
In Europe, the full moon in May came to be called the Flower Moon.
June
Originally the fourth month of the year, June, became the 6th month when the Gregorian calendar was adopted. It is named for the Roman goddess Juno, who ruled the heavens with Jupiter. Juno blessed marriages and made sure children were safely born. She also came to symbolize the waxing and waning of the moon.
Since Latin does not have the letter J, her name was derived from iuvenis, which means youth. Her title, Juno Lucina, or “Juno who brings light,” seems fitting to June.
July
July, named after Julius Caesar, is one of two months that honor a person instead of a deity. It became known as July after Caesar died. Before that, it was known as Quintilis, the Latin word for “fifth.” Before January and February were added, it was the 5th month.
Starting with Quintilis, Roman months were numerically named, with one other exception.
August
August, originally called Sextilis (sext- meant sixth), was renamed in honor of Augustus Caesar, a grandnephew of Julius. The Latin word augustus means “noble and majestic.” Augustus is considered by many to be the greatest Roman leader. Today, the word august is sometimes used to mean “respected.”
Why Are the Names of the Last Four Months Similar?
At this point, the Romans decided to name the months numerically instead of after gods, festivals, or famous people. No one knows why, but they decided to number the months.
- September is simply the septem, or seventh month. The Anglo-Saxons called September Gerst monath, which meant “barley month.” That’s an improvement over what they called August, Weod monath, or “weed month.”
- Since October was originally the 8th month, its name comes from the Latin word for eight, octo. Although Roman leaders tried to rename the month to Roman emperors, people kept using October.
- After 8 comes 9, and November comes from novem, the Latin name for “nine.” In Old English, it was called Blotmanad, or “Blood month.”
- A meter has 10 decimeters, and December, initially the 10th month, was named after decem, or “ten.”
Bottom Line
So there you have it—the story behind the month’s names. The Romans originally had a 10-month calendar. The first few months were named after Roman gods, but they switched to numbered.
When Caesar reformed the calendar, January and February were added. Pope Gregory reformed the calendar for additional accuracy, but the Latin roots of the names remained.
