Name of Months

Kids Learning

Months

Months are based roughly on the moon. A lunar month is 291/2 days, or the time from one new moon to the next. 12 lunar months leave 11 days remaining in the solar year.
To help you remember the days of the month, remember 30 days has September, April, June, and November. All the rest have 31, except February, which has 28.

The Names of the Months

January: named after Janus, protector of the gateway to heaven
February: named after Februalia, a time period when sacrifices were made to atone for sins
March: named after Mars, the god of war, presumably signifying that the campaigns interrupted by the winter could be resumed
April: from Aperire, Latin for to open (buds)
May: named after Maia, the goddess of growth of plants
June: from Junius, Latin for the goddess Juno
July: named after Julius Caesar
August: named after Augustus, the first Roman Emperor
September: from Septem, Latin for seven
October: from Octo, Latin for eight
November: from Novem, Latin for nine
December: from Decem, Latin for ten

NOTE: The earliest Latin calendar was a 10-month one; thus September was the seventh month, October, the eighth, etc. July was originally called Quintilis, as the fifth month; August was originally called Sextilis, as the sixth month