Months and days' names. The origins.

The names of the month derived from Roman deities, numbers and Roman emperors.

January: Named after the Roman god of beginnings and endings Janus (the month Januarius).

February:The name comes either from the old-Italian god Februus or else from februa, signifying the festivals of purification celebrated in Rome during this month.

March:This is the first month of the Roman year. It is named after the Roman god of war, Mars.

April: Called Aprilis, from aperire, "to open". Possible because it is the month in which the buds begin to open.

May: The third month of the Roman calendar. The name probably comes from Maiesta, the Roman goddess of honor and reverence.

June:The fourth month was named in honor of Juno. 

July:It was the month in which Julius Caesar was born, and named Julius in his honor in 44 BCE, the year of his assassination. Also called Quintilis (fifth month).

August: Originally this month was called Sextilis (from sextus, "six"), but the name was later changed in honor of the first of the Roman emperors, Augustus (because several fortunate events of his life occurred during this month).

September, October, November, December: the name of these months come from number: septem, octo, novem, decem.

The names of the days are in some cases derived from Teutonic deities or from Roman deities. 

Sunday: Its name comes from a pagan Rome holiday named dies solis which means sun's day

Monday: The name comes from the Anglo-Saxon monandaeg, "the moon's day"

Tuesday: Romans named this day after their war god Mars: dies Martis.

Wednesday: The name of this day was in honor to Wodan god (Odin)

Thursday: The name of this day was in honor to the Norse god Thor

Friday: The name of this day was in honor to the Norse goddess Frigg.

Saturday: This day was called dies Saturni, "Saturn's Day", by the ancient Romans in honor of Saturn.

Frida Torres Barajas. 1G
October 11th, 2016