where did we get the names for the twelve months of the year?

Answer 1

According to a great wesite referenced below....

Calendar Name Origins - Names of Months
January - ME Januari(us), OE Januarius, translation of Latin Januarius, named after JANUS, god of beginnings.
February - ME OE Februarius from Latin Februarius, named for Februa, the feast of purification.
March - ME March(e), from Latin Martius, (month of) Mars.
April - ME Averil, OF Avril, Latin Aprilis mensis (month). The name may derive from the Greek goddess of love, Aphrodite.
May - ME OE Maius, Latin Maius mensis (month), from the Greek Maia, goddess of spring (growth).
June - ME Jun(e), OE Iunius, from Latin mensis Junius, named after the goddess Juno, Queen of the gods.
July - ME Julie, OE Julius, from Latin Julius (Caesar) after whom it was named in 44 BC. The original name was quintilis, fifth month in the early Roman calendar.
August - ME OE Agustus from Latin Augustus (Caesar) 8 BC. The original name was sextilis, sixth month in the early Roman calendar.
September - ME Septembre from Latin September, seventh month in the early Roman calendar
October - ME OE from Latin October, eighth month in the early Roman calendar
November - ME OE from Latin November, ninth month of the early Roman calendar, from novem NINE
December - ME Decembre from OF and Latin December, tenth month of the early Roman calendar (decem TEN + membri from mens MONTH + ri suffix).

ME = Middle English
OE = Old English
OF = Old French
OHG = Old High German

Answer 2

They're Latin in origin(see August, Augustus Caesar) and originally there was only ten months but every five years the calendar would reset. This was sort of confusing as there was no consistency between months and their associated weather. The invention of Leap Day and the addition of two more months put everything on a smooth track, needing only to be corrected by a period of like 8 seconds every 30 or forty years. Pretty amazing stuff, is it not.

Answer 3

Like so much else in our culture, they come from the Romans. Janus was the two faced god looking back at the old year and forward to the new year. March is named for Mars, the god of war. July belongs to Julius Caesar. August was for Augustus. September was the seventh month in their scheme. October was the eigth, November the ninth, and December the tenth.

Answer 4

Ancient Rome

Immediately after the Julian reform, the twelve months of the Roman calendar were named Ianuarius, Februarius, Martius, Aprilis, Maius, Iunius, Quintilis, Sextilis, September, October, November, and December, just as they were before the reform. Their lengths were set to their modern values. The old intercalary month, the Mensis Intercalaris, was abolished and replaced with a single intercalary day at the same point (i.e. five days before the end of Februarius). The first month of the year continued to be Ianuarius, as it had been since 153 BC.

The Romans later renamed months after Julius Caesar and Augustus, renaming Quintilis (originally, "the Fifth month", with March = month 1) as Iulius (July)[1] in 44 BC and Sextilis ("Sixth month") as Augustus (August) in 8 BC. Quintilis was renamed to honour Caesar because it was the month of his birth. According to a senatus consultum quoted by Macrobius, Sextilis was renamed to honour Augustus because several of the most significant events in his rise to power, culminating in the fall of Alexandria, fell in that month

Answer 5

January - from the god Janus (he had two faces!) and was the Roman god of beginnings and endings

February -

March - Obviously from MARS, the god of war in Roman times

April -

May -

June - Juno, Roman goddess of marriage

July - named for Julius Caesar

August - named for Augustus Caesar (Julius' nephew I believe)

September - once the 7th month hence "sept-" (The Caesars egotism messed up the order of the rest of the months!)

October - once the 8th month Octo- meaning eight

November - the 9th month (nov- is nine)

December - once the tenth month (dec- is ten)


I'm not sure about February, April & May, but the links below have different (and similar) theories, so you can check them out

Hope it helped - & it was fun!

Answer 6

Mostly the Romans !!

Answer 7

i really dont know, i guess god imaginaried.