Before July-August, there were some other names… You will be surprised to know this story of the names of the months.

Year Ender 2025: The new year is about to come and the calendar will turn again from January 1, 2026. We all consider January as the beginning of the year, but do you know that today’s calendar was not always like this? In the ancient Roman calendar, the year started from March and there were no two months like January and February.

Later there were changes and the names of the months also changed. Some names were kept on the basis of gods, while some were kept only on the basis of numbers. Let us know the interesting story of the names of these months.

Beginning of the ancient Roman calendar

The oldest Roman calendar is believed to be that of Romulus, which had only 10 months. The year started in March and ended in December. Months like January and February were added later. At that time March was considered the first month because spring started and the weather became favorable for war. The Romans gave great importance to Mars, the god of war.

The names of the first four months were derived from gods.

• March (Martius): Named after Mars, the god of war. For the Romans, it was the month of new beginnings and military campaigns.
• April (Aprilis): Comes from the Latin word ‘aperire’, which means ‘to open’ or ‘to blossom’. Flowers and trees bloomed at this time.
• May (Maius): Named after Maya, the goddess of fertility. Maya was considered the goddess of earth and development.
• June (Junius): Named after the goddess Juno. Juno was the protector of marriage, family and women.

numbered months

In the old calendar, counting started from March, so subsequent months were known only by numbers:

• July (earlier Quintilis): The fifth month (Quintus = five), later named July after Julius Caesar.
• August (earlier Sextilis): Sixth month (sextus = six) renamed in honor of the emperor Augustus.
• September: Seventh month (Septem = seven)
• October: Eighth month (Octo = eight)
• November: Ninth month (Novem = nine)
• December: tenth month (decem = ten)

Even today, the names of these months are based on numbers, but the counting has shifted back by two months.

How are the names of January and February connected?

The second Roman king, Numa Pompilius, reformed the calendar and added two new months.

• January (Januarius): Named after Janus, the god of doors. Janus had two faces, one towards the past, the other towards the future. Therefore it was made the first month of the year.
• February (Februarius): Name derived from Februa, the festival of purification. In this month people used to perform rituals of cleansing the soul and house.

After these changes, the year became of 12 months and started starting from January. Julius Caesar made further reforms and today’s Gregorian calendar is a modified version of it.