When and by whom were the names of the days of the week decided and implemented?

Question

who decided that we call the last week day fri and the next day saturday etc? have the days of the week always been called by the names we use? in other languages then english do the names of the week days mean the same thing? does every culture have a seven day week?

Answer 1

Thats an expansive question that relates to many rulers from many periods.

I'd get it wrong if I tryed to explain, only know a couple for sure.

Answer 2

Your question demands an in depth answer, because it covers a vast amount of history, and a significant number of different cultures.
Briefly, then....The etymology (word history) of most of the days the week are linked to Roman mythology. 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 ones they were able to track in the sky were Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn. Those five planets plus the moon and sun made seven major astronomical bodies, so when the seven-day week was imported from Mesopotamia early in the fourth century it was a natural to use those astronomical names for the days of the week.
Under Constantine, the first day of the week was named after the sun, followed by the moon, Mars, Mercury, Jupiter, Venus and Saturn.
The names of the week were adopted with little change throughout most of the Roman Empire and even beyond. In only a few cases were changes made.
In English, the pattern is similar, but with a key difference. The connections between Sunday and the sun, between Monday and the moon, and between Saturn and Saturday should be obvious. The difference with the other days is that English is a Germanic language, and the names of equivalent Germanic gods were substituted for the Roman gods. Mars, for example, was the god of war, while the Germanic god of war was Tiu, whose name became part of Tuesday. Wednesday is a modification of Woden's Day; Woden was a god who was swift like Mercury. You may have heard of the Norse god Thor; a variation of that name was the basis for naming Thursday. Finally, Frigg, after whom Friday was named, was like Venus a goddess of love.

hope this helps

Answer 3

In Bulgarian the names of the week have the following meaning (possibly the same or similar in other Slavic languages):
Ponedelnik = Monday - "after Sunday or the day following Sunday"
Vtornik = Tuesday - "second day"
Sryada = Wednesday - "middle day"
Chetvartak = Thursday - "fourth day"
Petak = Friday - "fifth day"
Sabota = Saturday - "Sabbath"
Nedelya = Sunday - "no work day or the day devoted to God"
Obviously the names are based on the Biblical story of Creation and so, in the Slavic cultures the names must be related to the adoption of Christianity.

Answer 4

by way of fact we took the julian calender The Julian calendar, a reform of the Roman calendar, became presented by Julius Caesar in 40 six BC, and got here into stress in 40 5 BC (709 ab urbe condita). It became chosen after consultation with the astronomer Sosigenes of Alexandria and became in all risk designed to approximate the tropical 300 and sixty 5 days, worry-free a minimum of considering that Hipparchus. It has a known 300 and sixty 5 days of 300 and sixty 5 days divided into 300 and sixty 5 days, and a bounce day is extra to February each and every 4 years. for this reason the Julian 300 and sixty 5 days is on uncomplicated 365.25 days long. The Julian calendar remained in use into the 20 th century in some international locations as a nationwide calendar, besides the undeniable fact that it has normally been replaced by the well known Gregorian calendar. it remains utilized by the Berber people of North Africa, on Mount Athos, and by many nationwide Orthodox church homes. Orthodox church homes no longer utilising the Julian calendar normally use the Revised Julian calendar somewhat than the Gregorian calendar.

Answer 5

Seven days obviously comes from the Bible. It is almost natural in that the moon going through 4 quarters in about 28 days makes 4 easily marked periods of 7 days - Full, last quarter, new, and first quarter.
The names haven't even stayed the same in English, being modified as time passed. The thing that locked most of them in was the combination of printing and the Church.
The names in other languages do not mean the same as the Scandinavian derived names we use - French, Spanish, Italian, etc., use names tied to Latin. Chinese, etc. are totally different.

Answer 6

My uncle Billy (actually it was his wife Edna)

In 1952 my uncle Billy (real name withheld), decided that Monday Tuesday etc was a load of crap and that henceforth the week would start on Payday, followed by Beerday, Wineday, Footballday, Payday#day2, after that a 96 hour period with no name would start during which time no work was allowed.
Unfortunately a year with only 40 weeks (not to mention a leap year where February had 49 days!) caused a bit of a problem for the Calendar industry. Yes you guessed it, Edna worked in a Calendar factory (not Hallmark another one, you wouldn't have heard of it) and would have none of it. So that was the end of that and we reverted to the old Calender on June 22nd 1952!
Hope this helps.

..john
Ps Uncle Billy died of depression shortley thereafter.

Answer 7

The names of the days of the week in English are a mixed bag of Nordic and classical gods and goddesses.

Monday = moon day
Tuesday = not sure
Wednesday = not sure
Thursday = Thor's day
Friday = not sure
Saturday = Saturn day
Sunday = not sure

Shows you how much I know then...not a lot!

Answer 8

By the Celts - Monday - Moons DaTues day Goddess Wednesday -wodens day Thursday -Thor's day - Friday Friers day Saturday Saturn's Day Sunday the day given over to the worship of the sun.
I think all cultures run a seven day week they may call theses days by differnt names

Answer 9

I'm not sure, personally, who decided to name the days in English, but I know that the names of the days comes from Norse. Monday = Day of Mani, the moon. Tuesday = Day of Tyr, god of war. Wednesday = Day of Odin, the Allfather. Thursday = Day of Tor, the god of thunder. Friday = Day of Frigga, wife of Odin. I looked it up, and here's a site you might find interesting:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Days_of_the_week

Answer 10

The ancient Greeks knew that the sun was the source of life on the planet and they gave it prime importance in their thinking. When the Romans later adopted the seven day week they emphasize their respect for the sun by naming the first day of the week for it..."dies solis"..."day of the sun".

The actual word "Sunday" is derived from the German word "Sonntag" (and they likely got it from the Scandanavians). These folk too placed a great deal of importance on the sun. Some tribes of these Germanic peoples invaded England in the 500's or so. They were known as the Angles and the Saxons. The old English work was "sunnandaeg" and it changed over time to become our current, "Sunday".

If sun is honored on Sunday, it follows that the Moon should be given a place of prominence on Monday. And, indeed, the word for Monday is derived via the ancient Anglo-Saxon/Germanic tongue from the word for Moon, "monandaeg". Most other Western and Southern European languages use their own derivative of the word, "moon", as a root for "Monday". For example, the Latin word for moon is "luna" and from that comes the French word "Lundi".

The word "Tuesday", however, was derived from a wholly different religious tradition. Tyr or Tiw was the Norse God of War. When the Germanic Angles and Saxon's invaded England in the 500's they suplanted a culture that had been heavily influenced by Rome for several hundred years. The day, Tuesday, had already been named for the Roman God of War, Martius (notice in French, Italian, and Spanish - the word for Tuesday is still derivative of the Roman God - Mardi, Martedi and Martes - respectively). When the Germanic tribes conquered England, they laid their own lexicon over that of the Roman's so that the Norse God of War now supplanted the Roman God of War (after all the Norse God was obviously more potent). Thus they called the day of the God of War tiwesdaeg.

The mid-day of the week is named for the Norse God, Odin. He was also known as Woden or Wotan. Unlike many of the other days of the week, this day did not correspond roughly with the Roman designation for the day. (The Roman's named Wednesday for the messenger God - Mercury - In Romanian, the day is still known as miercuri). The early Scandanavians and Germans believed that Odin was the chief God of Asgard and as such deserved to have a day of the week named for him. The Anglo-Saxons used the word, Wodnesdaeg.

Thor was the Norse God of Thunder. The Scandanavians believed his chariot rumbled as it crossed the sky and that he wielded a hammer that shot lightening when he threw it. The Angles and Saxon's who invaded England in the 500's carried belief in Thor with them in their wanderings and wars.
In the days before the invasion the Roman's inhabited most of the civilized world (including most of England). The fifth day of the week was known as "dies jovis". The Roman's had named it for their own God of Thunder, and also chief of the Gods, Jupiter.

When the Germanic tribes suplanted the resident Roman's of England they also suplanted their Gods. They replaced Jupiter or Jove with Thor. Thus came the name, Thorsdaeg which comes down to modern English speakers as Thursday.

The name of Friday is derived from yet another Norse God (in this case a goddess), Frigga. She was believed to be the wife of Odin and was the goddess of marriage and the hearth. The Roman's had named this day for their goddess of beauty, Venus. They called it "dies veneris". When the Germanic tribes invaded England they imposed their goddess upon the day meant to honor Venus. The day was called frigedaeg, it has been corrupted over the centuries (since the 500's) to be "Friday".

Saturday is the only day of the week that retained its Roman origins in the wake of the English invasions of the Angles and Saxons. This may have been because there was no Norse God to roughly correspond to the Roman God of Time and the Harvest, Saturn. The Anglo-Saxons simply adapted the Roman, "dies saturni", making it saterdaeg.

It is conjectured that the seven day week as we know it was developed by the Babylonians over 3000 years ago. Historians believe that the Babylonians were avid astronomers. They based many of their mathematical systems (including their calculations of time) on the movement of the heavenly bodies. The first convenient division of time to be devised (after the day) was the month because it could be tracked by observing the cycles of the moon. It was at some point deemed convenient by Babylonian scholars to find a division of time greater than the day and shorter than the month. The big problem was that a cycle of the moon lasted about 29 and a half days. No round number of days divides evenly into 29 and a half - 4 was the best division they could find. So they went with the seven day week and worried about the loose change of extra days later.

Throughout the world various systems for the week had developed. The most popular competition for the seven day week was the 10 day week. Yet the ten day week proved to be too long for those looking forward to the weekend. Besides, adoption of the seven day week by the Hebrews would ensure its longevity over other forms; during the early Christian Era it grew in popularity with the popularity of both Judaism and Christianity. The Christians converted the Romans and the Romans forcibly converted the remainder of the civilized world. In this way the creation story, where God creates the universe in six days and then rests on the seventh, became a model for the activities of all mankind.

So today we still use the seven day week.

Planet: Moon Mars Mercury Jupiter Venus Saturn Sun
Italian: Lunedi Martedi Mercoledi Giovedi Venerdi Sabato Domenica
French: Lundi Mardi Mercrdi Jeudi Vendrdi Samedi Dimanche
Anglo-Saxon: Monandæg Tiwesdæg
(Tiw) Wodneesdæg
(Woden) Thresdæg
(Thor) Frigedæg
(Friga) Sæternesdæg Sunnandæg
English: Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday Sunday
German: Montag Dienstag Mittwoch Donnerstag Freitag Sonnabend Sonntag
Spanish Lunes Martes Miercoles Jueves Viernes Sabado Domingo

Answer 11

Well I think the same guy who did the calendar. Most were named after Roman Gods. Monday Moon day named after the moon. Tuesday or Mars day after the God of war. Wednesday is named after Mercury, Thursday is after Saturn, Friday after Venus, Saturday is also known as Sabbath day and Sunday is also known as first day.