There are twelve months in the year, and each one has a unique and distinctive name. There are some distinct patterns though, linked mostly to history, and specifically the Romans.

A few are named after Roman Gods, such as January — set at the start of the year honouring Janus, god of beginnings, March named after Mars, god of war, and June from Juno, queen of the gods. More examples can be found throughout the year. The Roman Republic and later the Roman Empire created an entire pantheon of deities, and honoured them in their calendar.

For some months, however, it’s the other way around, and the month named the god. Such was the case for February, which was named after the washing ritual of Februa, and named the god Februus.

April is a controversial topic for etymology, because there are two popular interpretations. First, that it comes from the Latin aperire, meaning “to open”, reflecting the opening of flowers in the spring. That is the more widely cited, but another verison exists linked to the goddess Aphrodite, with her festival Aphrodisia celebrated around the same time. Personally, I think it’s a mix of the two that has evolved over centuries.

Some months aren’t even named after gods though, instead for mere mortals. Take July for example, named after Julius Caesar, or August, named for Augustus, the first Roman emperor. Whether it was a posthunous commemoration, or their own ego getting the best of them, we will never know. 😜

The final selection in our tour of the year is the number months, September to December. These don’t have any special meanings, beyond the numbers. Seven, eight, nine, and ten. Before January and February were moved to the start of the year by the second king of Rome, Numa Pompillus, in the 700s BCE, these months were the seventh, eighth, ninth, and tenth. They just ended up getting pushed back, but the names didn’t change.

So there we have it, all the months of the year, correctly identified (for the most part) with their origin. I’m sorry if this has felt like a fact-file — there aren’t really many ways you can talk about all the months of the year in turn. 😂

Sources: Dictionary.com, Etmonline