Byjus Logo

Did you know the names of the months are older than the calendar?

Team StoryWeavers|July 08, 2022, 20:14 IST| 13

 

There are only 12 months in a year, with the start of every brand new year filled with resolutions, goals and promises. From forming good habits to learning new and exciting things, everyone is busy trying to make positive changes.

But….what do you think is the first thing we all change without fail at the start of a new year, with or without a resolution? It’s the calendar itself!

However, do you know that the names of the months are much older than the modern day calendar?! Have you ever wondered where the unique names of all months come from?

Some of the names sound like they might be English words but most of them sound exotic, don’t they? Well, wonder no more! In today’s story, we take you time-hopping through the calendar to explore the fascinating stories behind the names of each month in the year (Psst! As with a lot of things, the people responsible for this are the ancient Romans!)

The Gregorian Calendar – The calendar followed throughout the world:

The Gregorian calendar has a history older than itself. You’ll read more on that later in this post. The calendar that we follow internationally and the one that you see on your desktops and cell phones are all Gregorian calendars. This calendar had replaced the old Julian calendar in 1582 and over centuries it was used across cultures and countries all across the world. There are two main types of calendars, one is lunar based while the other is solar based. The Greek calendar was a solar based calendar.

Quick Fact

Did you know that before the modern calendar took shape, the Roman Calendar was being followed which had just 10 months.
It was only later that January and February were added into the calendar, to make it 12!
You can get information about this and much more if you take a dive deep into the history of calendars!

Facts about the Gregorian calendar or the modern calendar:

  • The modern calendar is a Solar calendar.
  • It has a total of 12 months in a calendar year.
  • Each month has a total of 28 days, 29 days, 31 days or 30 days depending on the month and year of the calendar.
  • According to this calendar there are 365 days in a year.
  • Every four years we have something called a leap year when an extra day is added to the month of February which usually has 28 days. This makes February in the leap year have 29 days.
  • In a leap year there are 366 days in a year with 29 days in February instead of 28 days.

The Names of Months With Number of Days

January

31 days

The first month of the year, January gets its name from the Roman god Janus. A mythical deity with two faces, Janus was said to be able to look at the past and the future at the same time. Also symbolising gates and doors, Janus is thought to be the symbol of entering a new era or time.

Janus on an ancient Roman coin. Image source: Shutterstock

Janus on an ancient Roman coin. Image source: Shutterstock

February

28/29 days

February comes from the Latin word “’februare” which means “to purify”. Some believe that February, being the last month added to the calendar, was meant to “purify” it and make it an accurate record of time.

Read Also: Why Is February So Odd This Year?

A European painting depicting the month of February. Image source: Wikimedia Commons

A European painting depicting the month of February. Image source: Wikimedia Commons

March

31 days

The pleasant month of March is actually named after the violent Roman god of war, Mars. Romans believed that the good weather in March was a great time to resume their battles with enemy kingdoms and hence named it after their god of war.

Statue of Roman god Mars. Image source: Wikimedia Commons

Statue of Roman god – Mars. Image source: Wikimedia Commons

April

30 days

The etymology for the month of April is by far the most debated of all the calendar months. However, one interesting theory links the naming of April to springtime. Coinciding with the time when flowers begin to bloom, some scholars believe that April comes from the Latin word ‘aperire’ which means ‘to open,’ as flowers do in spring!

Blooming flowers may have inspired the name "April". Image source: Wikimedia Commons

Blooming flowers may have inspired the name ‘April’. Image source: Wikimedia Commons

May

31 days

The origin of the month of May is relatively more straightforward. To celebrate the earth in all its glory as it begins to bloom and grow in the thick of spring, the month of May gets its name from Maia, the Roman goddess of the Earth.

Image of Maia on Greek pottery. Image source: Wikimedia Commons

Image of Maia on Greek pottery. Image source: Wikimedia Commons

June

30 days

In ancient Rome, the start of summer was a time to get married! A part of the Northern hemisphere, the days start getting longer around the middle of the year in Rome and a lot of celebrations, including marriages, was planned around this time. To commemorate this, Juno, the Roman goddess of marriages lends her name to the month of June.

 

Statue of Juno. Image source: Wikimedia Commons

Statue of Juno. Image source: Wikimedia Commons

July

31 days

Arguably one of the most famous personalities from ancient Rome, the month of July is named after Julius Caesar. Following his assassination in 44 B.C., the month was renamed ‘July’ to honour Caeser, who was born in the said month. This was also the first month that was named after a real person and not a mythological deity.

 

Statue of Julius Caeser. Image source: Wikimedia Commons

Statue of Julius Caesar. Image source: Wikimedia Commons

August

31 days

The month of August gets its name from the Roman Emperor Augustus Caesar, Julius Caesar’s nephew. Considered to be one of the greatest emperors of Rome, Augustus was immortalised with the naming of the month. The name ‘Augustus’ also means ‘respected’ or ‘impressive’. In English, the word ‘august’ is used to denote this too! For example, ‘The professor has an august reputation for his work!’

 

Statue of Augustus Caeser. Image source: Wikimedia Commons

Statue of Augustus Caesar. Image source: Wikimedia Commons

September, October, November & December

30, 31, 30 & 31 days

September, October, November and December, the last four months of the year seem to rhyme. No, that was not a coincidence. Originally, the last four months of the year were the seventh, eighth, ninth and tenth months respectively in the old 10-month-long Roman calendar. Hence, their names also reflect the same, being named after the corresponding Roman numerals.  However, once January and February were added to the calendar to make it more accurate, these last four months got pushed from their spots! Their names, however, stayed the same.

 

An old Roman calendar. Image source: Wikimedia Commons

An old Roman calendar. Image source: Wikimedia Commons

 

Names of months in English and in Roman:

Months in English Months in Roman
January Januarius
February Februarius
March Martius
April Aprilis
May Maius
June Junius
July Quintilis
August Sextilis
September September
October October
November November
December December

 

Easy way to remember the days in a month: (Knuckle mnemonic)

Some of you may already know this little trick. It is a very effective way to find out the number of months in a year. It is sometimes called the Knuckle mnemonic as we use the. There are two methods in Knuckle mnemonics.

Determining names of months with the help of knuckles

In both these methods you will assign each knuckle with a value of 31 days and each depression between the knuckle with 30 days, 28 days or 29 days. 

  • Single Hand:

In the single handed method you start from the first knuckle (little finger knuckle) as January and the adjacent depression as February and the next knuckle as March until the last Knuckle as July. Remember to say the months while doing this.

Now repeat this again by coming back to the little finger knuckle (Now August) and then continue until you finish all the months. 

There is another variation In this method where you could also reverse your direction of counting once you reach the last knuckle instead of starting from the little finger knuckle after reaching July.

  • Double Hand:

In this second method you can use both your hands. You will need to make a fist and place your hands next to each other with the knuckles of your index fingers touching each other. 

Just like in the previous method you can start from the small finger knuckle saying January and then when you reach the last knuckle of your hand jump to the next knuckle (index finger knuckle) on the second hand and then continue to complete the months.

 

What is a leap year?

In the Gregorian Calendar one year is not equal to 365 days. There is a quarter of a day in each year that gets carried over. That is why after completing four years you end up with four quarters of a day which is the same as a whole day. This day is what gets added to February thereby giving 29 days in that month when it is done. That year when February has 29 days instead of the usual 28 days is called a leap year.

How to calculate the next leap year?

For most of the years once you add 4 years to a leap year you get the next leap year but that does not hold true when you consider long spans. 

Here is a simple way to calculate leap years:

  • If the year under consideration is evenly divisible by 4 then,
  • Check If the year is evenly divisible by 100. If it is still divisible then check
  • If the year is evenly divisible by 400.

If your answer is a Yes after the above three checks then the year under consideration is a leap year. 

But if the year is divisible by four and not divisible by 100 you still have a leap year.

But if the year is divisible by four, divisible by 100 and not divisible by 400 it is not a leap year.

Here is a list of leap years for years from 2000 to 2100:

Leap Years from 2000 to 2100
2000 2004 2008
2012 2016 2020
2024 2028 2032
2036 2040 2044
2048 2052 2056
2060 2064 2068
2072 2076 2080
2084 2088 2092
2096

 

In the above table, notice how 2100 failed to appear as a leap year. This is because despite the year being divisible by both 4 and 100 it was not divisible by 400 and hence is not a leap year.

So there you have it! Once again we see that history lives on with us even today. The Roman emperors who made the first calendars may be long gone. But the legacy of their culture still lives with us today in the form of the modern calendar! Want to know more about culture, history and geography? Check out the BYJU’S social science videos here!

Frequently Asked Questions

1. Why is August named August?

Answer:

August is named after a major figure of the ancient Roman world – Rome's first emperor, Augustus Caesar.

2. Who is June named after?

Answer:

June is the sixth month of the Gregorian calendar. It was named after Juno, the Roman goddess of childbirth and fertility.

3. Why did the Romans only have 10 months?

Answer:

According to tradition, Romulus, the legendary first king of Rome, oversaw an overhaul of the Roman calendar system around 738 BCE. The resulting calendar, whose structure borrowed heavily from the ancient Greek calendar system, had only 10 months, with March (Martius) being the first month of the year.

4. Who is the month of April named after?

Answer:

The origins of some months were debated even by the Romans themselves. One tradition had it that Romulus named April after the goddess Aphrodite, who was born from the sea's foam (aphros in Ancient Greek).

5. Who is the month of May named after?

Answer:

May was named after the Roman goddess Maia, who oversaw the growth of plants. Maia was considered a nurturer and an earth goddess, which may explain the connection with this springtime month.

About the Author


Deepthi is an ambivert who is on a steady diet of good food, filter coffee, and self-improvement. Being an ardent reader, storytelling has been her first love and she enjoys exploring how to convey stories compellingly. Having studied psychology and experienced the learning and development field, Deepthi is driven to understand human behavior and to know what makes each of us unique. You are most likely to find her tucked into a cozy corner at a local cafe with a Kindle or a book in hand. If you find her there, stop by and say hello, she'd be eager to learn your story too. Until then, you can ping her at storyweavers@byjus.com for anything you may like to share.

Leave a Comment


*

Comments



Divyanshi Rathore

March 12, 2021

??????????


Anvita

February 7, 2021

Wow I good information about the months ??


Adrija

January 22, 2021

Wow!!!!
Amazing !!!
Love the information


Saanavi Thakur

January 21, 2021

WoW never thought of


Yasmin Bano

January 17, 2021

Wow…!!! Its really nice I don’t have any information about this… Really a new and interesting information…… For me…!!


Alokendra Mandal

January 17, 2021

Very nice information as it helps us from now to use calendar not just to refer dates but now we also know that from where these names come from !!


Aayush Kumar?

January 13, 2021

Amazing?


Jiya Gadhavi

January 11, 2021

Amazing????,
I didn’t know that the calendar month names are older than the calendar !!!


Rathod Avani

January 11, 2021

Nice ??


Aastha Pratap Mokashi

January 10, 2021

Happy New Year ?? Nice Information…..??


Parvathi Ajayakumar

January 9, 2021

Unbelievable.????Really Amazing.????Now I understood how these months got these names??


Nehal Pohane

January 7, 2021

Wow! I didn’t know that these months are older than I thought they were!??


Srijita Sen

January 7, 2021

Wow????


Testimonials

Join 100+MN Registered BYJU'S Users

Book Your Free Class Now

Thank you!

Your details have been submitted
successfully.