The origins of the names of months and days...

Have you ever wondered where we get the name of the months in our calendar and also the days of the week?

In a few days, we will be starting a new year: 2022 in the Gregorian Gregorian calendar, also called the New Style calendar.

This calendar uses a solar dating system. It was proclaimed in 1582 by Pope Gregory XIII as a reform and modification of the Julian calendar.

https://www.britannica.com/biography/St-Gregory-the-Great

First, what is the Julian calendar? Of course, it was named after the Roman Emperor, Julius Caesar, and introduced in 45 BC.

The Julian calendar has 10 months named after Roman gods, leaders, festivals, and numbers.

Tradition says that Rome is founded by the brothers Remus and Romulus, having Romulus as its first king. he then said, named the first month of the year to Martius, after his father, Mars, the god of war. Later on, this month will be called March. After Martius, Aprilis (April), Maius (May), and Iunius (June), followed, Each name was derived from Roman deities. Then the following months were simply derived from its corresponding Roman numbers such as Quintilis (the fifth month), Sextilis (the sixth month), September (Septem, the seventh month), October (octo, the eighth month), November (nona, the ninth month) and December (deca, the tenth month).

In 44 B.C., Quintilis was rebranded as Iulius, to celebrate the month in which the dictator Julius Caesar was born.

In 8 B.C., Augustus Caesar, renamed Sextilis, Augustus, in his honor.

The Julian calendar then was used from 45 B.C until 1582. The Julian calendar has 365.25 days in a year but the Gregorian calendar which used the tropical and solar numbering has 365.2425 days. They only differ in a matter of seconds. But it has created a great impact on the world.

So in 1582, in Pope Gregory’s time, 14 days ahs already regressed from the time when the Julian calendar was used. Pope Gregory based his reform on the vernal equinox that occurred in 325 AD in the Council of Nicea. This equinox falls on March 11, but according to the Gregorian calendar, it falls on March 21. The first change takes effect in advancing the calendar 10 days after October 4, 1582, and instead of it’s October 5, it’s already October 15 the next day.

(Fun fact: They said that those stubborn to use the Gregorian calendar are called fools that’s why there’s the April Fools’ Day.)

Though many use the Gregorian calendar, even Islamic countries, still use another calendar for their religious festivals. Also others, still use the Julian calendar for the same reason.

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So here are the months of the year according to the Gregorian calendar.

As I have said, the Julian calendar has only 10 months. The institution of two additional months, Ianuarius and Februarius, at the beginning of the year was attributed to Numa, the second king of Rome. Even though there were now 12 months in the Roman year, the numerical names of the later months were left unchanged.

January: the first month of the Gregorian calendar. It was named after Janus, the Roman god of all beginnings and endings. January replaced March as the first month of the Roman year no later than 153 BCE.

February: comes from the word februum (purification) and februa, the rites or instruments used for purification. The februa is used in the Lupercalia festival celebrated on February 15.

March, the third month of the Gregorian calendar. It was named after Mars, the Roman god of war. Originally, March was the first month of the Roman calendar.

April, the fourth month of the Gregorian calendar. Its name probably derives from the Latin aperire (“to open”), a possible reference to plant buds opening at this time of year in Rome. As the poet Ovid wrote:

“For they say that April was named from the open season, because spring then opens all things, and the sharp frost-bound cold departs, and earth unlocks her teeming soil…”

To some tradition, Romulus named this month from the goddess Aphrodite.

May: the fifth month according to also to some tradition, Romulus named May and June from the two divisions of the male body, the maiores (elders) and iuniores (juniors). However, the most prominent is, the name came from the nymph Maia, who was assimilated with the earth, gave her name to May.

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

July: seventh month, named in honor of Julius Caesar

August, the eighth month of the Gregorian calendar. It was named for the first Roman emperor, Augustus Caesar, in 8 BCE. Its original name was Sextilus, Latin for “sixth month,” indicating its position in the early Roman calendar.

September, the ninth month of the Gregorian calendar. Its name is derived from septem, Latin for “seven,” an indication of its position in the early Roman calendar.

October: 10th month of the Gregorian calendar. Its name is derived from octo, Latin for “eight,” an indication of its position in the early Roman calendar.

November: the eleventh month in the Gregorian calendar, but the ninth month in the Roman calendar

December: the twelfth month in the Gregorian calendar, the tenth month in the Roman calendar.

Now that we have discussed the origins of the names of the months, let’s discuss the days of the week. I will only tackle the Roman names, Latin, Spanish, and of course Filipino origin.

Like the months of the calendar, the etymology of the days of the week can be traced to Roman mythologies. We really can see the influence of Roman tradition and culture on the world today.

“The Romans saw a connection between their gods and the changing face of the nighttime sky, so it became natural to use their gods' names for the planets. The planets the ancient people were able to track in the sky were Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn. Those five planets plus the moon and sun made up the seven major astronomical bodies.”

Later on, the Romans used their names in naming the 7 days of the week.

The first day of the week was named after the sun (Sun’s day), followed by the moon (Moon’s day), Mars (Tiu’s day), Mercury (Woden’s day), Jupiter (Thor’s day), Venus (Freya’s day), and Saturn (Saturn’s day).

If you’ll notice, these are the English translation already. But let’s see who are these named after.

Sunday: In middle English, it is sone(n)day or sun(nen)day or the "day of the sun". In Latin, it is dies solis "day of the sun".

Monday: Moon's day. In Middle English, Monday or mone(n)day. In Old English mon(an)dæg "day of the moon”. In Latin, dies lunae "day of the moon".

Tuesday: In Latin, dies Martis "day of Mars". Mars is the Roman god of war.  Tiu's day In Middle English, Tiu’s day or tiwesday or tewesday or tiwesdæg "Tiw's (Tiu's) day". Tiu (Twia) is the English/Germanic god of war and the sky. He is identified with the Norse god Tyr.

Wednesday: Woden's day. Woden is identified with the Norse Odin. In Middle English wodnesday, wednesday, or wednesdai or wodnesdæg "Woden's day. Mercury is the Roman god of commerce, travel, thievery, eloquence and science. He is the messenger of the other gods.

Thursday: Thor's day. Thor is the Norse god of thunder. He is represented as riding a chariot drawn by goats and wielding the hammer Miölnir.  In Middle English thur(e)sday. In Old English thursdæg. In Old Norse thorsdagr, "Thor's day". In Latin, dies Jovis, "day of Jupiter". Jupiter (Jove) is the supreme Roman god and patron of the Roman state. He is noted for creating thunder and lightning.

Friday: Freya's day. Freya (Fria) is the Teutonic goddess of love, beauty, and fecundity (prolific procreation). She is identified with the Norse god Freya. She is the leader of the Valkyries and one of the Vanir. In Middle English, fridai Old English, frigedæg "Freya's day". In Latin, dies Veneris or "Venus's day.  Venus is the Roman goddess of love and beauty.

Saturday: Saturn's day. Saturn is the Roman and Italic god of agriculture and the consort of Ops. He is believed to have ruled the earth during an age of happiness and virtue. In Middle English, saterday. In Old English, sæter(nes)dæg "Saturn's day". In Latin dies Saturni "day of Saturn".

Our Filipino naming of the days of the week like Linggo (Sunday), Lunes (Monday), Martes (Tuesday), Miyerkules (Wednesday), Huwebes (Thursday), Biyernes (Friday), and Sabado (Saturday) come from the Spanish and Latin influence.

The Spanish retained the planetary names of the five days ending in -es for the shortening of Latin dies for the day. Thus, Lunes comes from the word for "moon," luna in Spanish, and the planetary connection with Mars is also apparent with martes. The same is true with Mercury/miércoles, Jueves for Thursday (Jove is another name for Jupiter in Latin), and Venus is viernes, meaning "Friday." Sabado comes from the Hebrew word “sabbath” which means day of rest. While Domingo comes from a Latin word meaning "Lord's day."

So there. The origins of the names of the months and days.