Origins Of The Names Of The Calendar

[Saint_Michael 3]

Well I was curious how the months where named so I did a little research which I will talk to you all about.

 

 

January- Named After Janusthe god of doors and gateways in Roman mythology.

 

.:History and Info for January.:.

 

February- Named for the Roman god Februus, the god of purification.

 

.:History and info for February:.

 

March- Named after the Roman god of war "Martius" or "Aries" (greek myth).

 

.:History and Info for March:.

 

April- when I read this I was huh. so here is the complete origin of the name of april:

 

The derivation of the name (Latin aprilis) is uncertain. The traditional etymology from the Latin aperire, "to open," in allusion to its being the season when trees and flowers begin to "open," is supported by comparison with the modern Greek use of ἁνοιξις (opening) for spring. Since all the Roman months were named in honour of divinities, and as April was sacred to Venus, the Festum Veneris et Fortunae Virilis being held on the first day, it has been suggested that Aprilis was originally her month Aphrilis, from her Greek name Aphrodite, or from the Etruscan name Apru. Jacob Grimm suggests the name of a hypothetical god or hero, Aper or Aprus

.:History and info for April:.

 

May- Named after Maia greek goddes of fertility.

 

.:History and Info for May:.

 

June- named after the roman goddes juno or her greek name Hera (mother of the gods).

 

.:History and info for June

 

July- Named after the Roman Emporer Julius Caeser who was born on this month when it was called Quintilis or 5th month in latin.

 

.:History and info on July:.

 

August- Named after the Roman Emperor Augustus. But their is a little hisotry lesson to why both july and august have 31 days back to back. Because Augustus wanted as many days as his uncle Julius Caeser.

 

.:History and info for August:.

 

September- Named after it latin orgins "septem" or seven since it was the seventh month of the roman calendar.

 

.:History and info for September:.

 

October- named after its latin origins "octo" or eight, since it was the eighth month in the roman calendar.

 

.:History and Info for October:.

 

November- Named after its latin orgins "novem" or nine since it was the ninth month in the roman calendar.

 

.:history and info for November:.

 

December- Named after its latin orgins "decem" meaning 10 since it was the tenth month in the roman calender.

 

.:history and info for December:.

 

So their you go now you know the origins of the names of the calendar that we use today.

[DogEater008 0]

hmm. thanks for the infomation. AHHA.. i have always wonder about that. How could october (the 10th month in our calender) have a prefix oct. which mean eight. AHAH. thanks for the cleaification =P

[Plenoptic 0]

Very interesting. I knew some came from gods but I didn't know about the ones from the Roman calendar. Good to know. I will probably be learning about it sometime in history I am sure. Now I can show off

[Dawiss 0]

Wow I didn't know they came from latin numbers.. I only knew that one about July who was made for Julius Caeser.. Thanks Saint_Michael for making me smarter in this theme

[amhso 0]

hehe i know latin. but i also though one of the months was named after justinian. o well, good to know

[Amezis 0]

That's quite interresting, I have never actually thought about why the months are named like they are...

[Sprnknwn 0]

I also studied two yeras of latin and knew this in part, but of course not with so much information. There were ten months and July and August were inserted later because of emperor?s desires... a bit of egocentrism here, I think I love to know details about ancient culture and mithology, so thanks for those links.

[sportytalk 0]

wow, thanks for the list. Was interested in this.I knew that there were only 10 months in the Roman times and knew that each month originated from a Roman god or goddess of some kind, although I wasn't sure on how each month was given it's name (which God/Goddess was responsible) (I only knew about 2 or 3 of them).It's always nice to research topics like these. Thanks for sharing

[Eikon 0]

The only ones I knew were August and February. Did you know what Agustus took days away from February and that's why it's so short. (or something like that). Thanks for the information, was very interesting.

[wassie 0]

haha this is kinda fun, why is my birthday in the crazy month april.I also dont really understand that explanation

[BuffaloHelp 24]

Trivia on calendar and its names:The month September, October, November and December were meant to represent the 7th, 8th, 9th and 10th month. It was because before the 12 month year calendar, there were only 10. The month June and July was added later to correct the missing number of days to make up the difference of Earth revolving completely once around the Sun. Just remember folks, the correct number of days per year is 365.25 days--thus a leap year every 4 years.

[unicornrose 0]

April Simplified

 

Based on the explination the month was probably named after the Goddess of love. Her name is Venus but in Greek Mythology she is named Aphrodite. There very well may have been also some other important guy that it got named after. However, the goddess of love makes the most sense because April is typically spring time(yeah I know not all countries have spring in April). Usually in the spring is when plants bring out their new blooms and animals are beginning their nesting. Its a time of renewal and birth. It would only seem right in my mind that Venus would be a part of that. That is my thought.

 

Thank you once again for the interesting information.

[Spen 0]

Wow this topic is very interesting! A lot of nice info in here. You can learn something off this topic. Very nice.Thanks for posting this info! Now I know which god/goddess the names of the calendar are named off of!

[eee 0]

thanks man didnt think they were named cuz of these good info everything is created for a reason propz