Let's take a look at how the ancient Romans chose the names of the 12 months of the year. March: The ancient Romans insisted that all wars cease during the time of celebration between the old and new years. Since March was the first month of the new year in ancient Rome, some historians believe the Romans named March after Mars , the Roman god of war. April: Three theories exist regarding the origin of April's name. Still others think April was named after the goddess Aphrodite.
May: May was named after Maia, an earth goddess of growing plants. June: Apparently, June has always been a popular month for weddings! The Romans named June after Juno, the queen of the gods and patroness of marriage and weddings. July: July was named after Julius Caesar in 44 B.
August: August was named after Augustus Caesar in 8 B. Though we think of September, October, November, and December as months 9, 10, 11 and 12, these months were 7, 8, 9, and 10 on the ancient Roman calendar. This is how they got their names. February: Around B. This is how February got its name. January: Later, Pompilius added another month to the beginning of the year and named it January after Janus , the God of beginnings and endings. In , Pope Gregory adjusted the calendar , so most western nations began celebrating the start of the year on January 1.
This new calendar became known as the "Gregorian calendar. However, England and the American colonies continued to celebrate the new year on the date of the spring equinox in March. It was not until that the British and their colonies finally adopted the Gregorian calendar.
We hope you enjoyed learning more about the origins of the names of the months of the year! Be sure to check out the following activities with a friend or family member:. Your questions are good ones--and definitely would benefit from a Wonder Journey: visit your local library or search the Internet for more information!
Feel free to suggest some topics for us to cover in the Wonder Bank! Great question, mark. It depends on when-in-history the month was named. Thanks for stopping by! Hi, Sian! Since we do not list a publish date for our Wonders of the Day, you may put the date you accessed this page for information. The following is how you would cite this page:. Accessed 3 March Thanks for asking, Sian! We ask that Wonderopolis be listed as the author. Also, since we do not list a publish date for our Wonders of the Day, you may put the date you accessed this page for information.
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We are glad you are keeping us on our toes! Haha -that's awesome! We love your creativity, Goldenstar! Thanks for giving us something to think about! Dear wonderopolis, I have a question to tell you why did the months get their names and why?
We do like to WONDER about the confusion and try to clear things up a bit when we can, but at the end of the day, there is still a lot out there we just can't totally make sense of. And you're right: maybe that's ok! Great to hear from you, Wonder Friend! Just remember, Makaysia, that September, the ninth month, comes from the Latin word that means "seven," and then October comes from the - wait, we aren't helping, are we?
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The rulers offspring of ancient kings in the Vatican Rome have changed the Gregorian calandar pope Gregory to confuse the world. Check 9Nania on youtube for detailed prophesy fulfillments! Hi, David! Thanks for sharing your thoughts. We hope this Wonder was helpful and informational. We're so glad you learned some new things about the months, Kenny!
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We agree, mythology is very interesting to study. Maybe you can continue researching at your library. Hi, Jennifer Schmidt! April is a nice month to be born, Ariana! Flowers begin to bloom and leaves start growing on trees! Hi, Frank! Thank you for your suggestions. We will definitely take that into consideration as we make improvements to Wonderopolis. We currently do not have any Wonders about the Roman Catholic Church.
We typically take Wonder Questions from our community, and the most popular questions will become written Wonders of the Day. You are so welcome, Mikayla! It sounds like you learned a lot!
Great question, Wonder Friend James! Historically, most of the months were pretty similar to the number of days in the month today. For example, May has always had 31 days, but January had 29 days originally, but now it has 31! March was originally the first month, as you noted! Thanks so much, Wonder Friend April! That's great news-- an A on your project We're sending you virtual high fives for your hard work!
That's terrific, Wonder Friend April! We are so glad you shared your comment about your awesome name-- we bet it's cool to have such a lovely, Springtime name like yours! That's awesome news, Wonder Friend Keegan! It's been lots of fun to Wonder with you-- we look forward to seeing you soon! Thanks for your comment and your suggestion, Aryaan! We Wonder how your birthday month got its name? Hey there, Wonder Friend Ignacious, thanks for sharing your comment- we really appreciate it.
We would be happy to address your concerns about any incorrect information! You can email us at hello wonderopolis. Have a great Monday! We love your enthusiasm, Jimmy! Thanks for telling us all about what you learned today-- the months of the year are very interesting!
We are happy to hear you enjoy learning about the little things; sometimes details are the most interesting part when it comes to learning something new! We can't wait to Wonder with you again! They put it right after January. Its name comes from a festival that was held at this time called Februa.
The festival aimed to cleanse the city of evil spirits and welcome health and fertility. Because the Romans put two new months into the year, the names of the months do not make sense anymore. If our year started in March as it did for the Romans, December would still be the tenth month. But years ago, people who used this calendar started thinking that January was the first month of the year. So now December in the twelfth month for the Western calendar.
Read more: Curious Kids: why are there different seasons at specific times of the year? The Romans seem to have ignored the remaining 61 days, which fell in the middle of winter. The last six names were taken from the words for five, six, seven, eight, nine, and ten. Romulus, the legendary first ruler of Rome, is supposed to have introduced this calendar in the s B.
This made the Roman year days long. To make the calendar correspond approximately to the solar year, Numa also ordered the addition every other year of a month called Mercedinus. Mercedinus was inserted after February 23 or 24, and the last days of February were moved to the end of Mercedinus. In years when it was inserted, Mercedinus added 22 or 23 days to the year. Some fragments of Roman calendars have been found so far, and they are collectively known as Fasti.
The Roman calendar used a system of months, and special days in each month. Some calendars were carved in marble or stone, but many were painted on walls for decoration. Different geographical areas often held different gods in special esteem, and this led to regional variations in calendars. In 45 B. They accomplished this with the Julian Calendar. This change was accompanied by addition of an extra day every fourth year after February 23rd because of the almost six extra hours beyond days in a tropical year.
The Kalends were always the first day of the month. The Nones were usually the 5th but sometimes the 7th, and the Ides were the 15th but sometimes the 13th. The holidays were generally bunched together to form continuous celebrations, and the remaining days of the month were usually nondescript workdays.
The days were each identified with certain letters and names. The Kalends were always identified as shown in the diagram at right. The archaic form of the K, for Kalends, was used in front of the name of the month. The first letter was called the Nundinae "nine day" , or the Nundinal letter, and it represented the market day. Every 9th day counting inclusively was a market day, but as it shifted every year, a designated letter between A and H would represent the market day for that year.
The final letter identifies the type of day for purposes of religious observance or legal business. The top diagram shows a typical non-holiday. The first letter is the nundinal letter for the market day. If the market day for this year was E then this would be a market day.
The second letter signifies the type of religious or legal observance required or permitted on this day. In this case the letter C represents dies comitiales , days when committees of citizens could vote on political or criminal matters. The other letter designations :. The center diagram is a typical festival, or feriae. On these days the day letter follows the holiday name, which is abbreviated in these calendars. These holidays are explained in the write-up for each day. The Romans enjoyed more holidays than the number of our holidays and weekends combined.
One of the hallmarks of progress seems to be that the populace is always made to work longer and, on top of it all, they are taxed more. The Romans did not have weekdays in the same sense as our Monday, Tuesday, etc. Originally, the month and the markers were based on the moon. At the time of their early kings, Roman months were of a length identical to the lunar cycle. Each month was divided into sections that ended on the day of one of the first three phases of the moon: new, first quarter or full.
All days were referred to in terms of one of these three moon phase names, Kalends, Nones or Ides. At that time a pontifex priest was assigned to observe the sky. When he first sighted a thin lunar crescent he called out that there was a new moon and declared the next month had started.
Maia was considered a nurturer and an earth goddess, which may explain the connection with this springtime month. Named for the Roman goddess Juno, patroness of marriage and the well-being of women.
Named to honor Roman dictator Julius Caesar B. In 46 B. In the ancient Roman calendar, October was the name of the eighth month of the year. For the truly curious calendar lovers, check out the origin of day names. Skip to main content. Origins and Meanings of the 12 Months. By Catherine Boeckmann.
December 30, Source: This article was originally published in and has been updated.
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