January was named after the
god Janus. Janus was a strange god with two faces. He could look in 2
directions. He could look forward and back at the same time. He was the god of
endings and beginnings.
The name February comes
from a Roman celebration. The name of this celebration was Februa. It was a
celebration of cleaning. Toward the end of February, after the long winter
months, women begin to think of spring cleaning. Probably this was the origin of
the name of the month. February has only 28 days. Every fourth year it has an
extra day making a total of 29 days. The reason for this is that in every year
there are exactly 365 days and six hours. At the end of four years these six
extra hours of each year add up to 24 hours or one full day. This fourth year,
in which February has 29 days, we call Leap Year.
The third month, March, is
named after the roman god of war Mars. Mars was a strong god. The roman people
always connected him with thunder and lightning. Pictures of Mars always show
him with lightning about his head. It is natural that the name of March comes
from this God. March is a month of storms, the wind blows strongly. It rains
very hard. There is often thunder and lightning.
The origin of the world
April is not known exactly. Probably the word comes from the latin word
Aperiri. This latin word means “To open”. In spanish today there are words
“abrir” (to open) and abierto (open). In the month of April the skies open. It
rains very often. The trees become green. Grass and flowers appear.
The month of May is named
after the Goddess Maia. Maia was young and pretty. She was the goddess of the
fields. She was the mother of the god Mercury.
The month of June was named
after the goddess Juno. She was the wife of Jupiter. Juno was a beautiful
woman.
The seventh month of the
year, July, is named after Julius Cesar. He was a famous general. He became
dictator of Rome.
Before the time of Julius
Cesar another calendar was used. The year began in March instead of January. The
present month of July was then the fifth month instead of the seventh month.
Cesar changed this. He made a new calendar. This is the calendar we use at
present. Julius Cesar was born on July. He gave the name of July to this month.
After Julius Cesar came his
nephew, Augustus. At first the name of Augustus was Octavious. Later, when he
became emperor, the people wished to please him. They gave him the title of
Augustus, meaning “noble”. They also called the eighth month August after him.
The months of September,
October, November and December need little explanation. In our calendar today
they are the ninth, tenth, eleventh, and twelfth months. But in the old
calendar before Julius Cesar they were the seventh, eighth, ninth, and tenth months.
The names for the months September, October, November and December therefore
came from the latin words for seventh, eighth, ninth and tenth.
