Month

:In Egyptian mythology, Month is an alternate spelling for Menthu.

Months in various calendars

Julian and Gregorian calendars

The Gregorian calendar, like the Julian calendar before it, has twelve months:

Related Topics:
Gregorian calendar - Julian calendar

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

• January, 31 days
• February, 28 days, 29 in leap years, or 30 on one occasion
• March, 31 days
• April, 30 days
• May, 31 days
• June, 30 days
• July, 31 days
• August, 31 days
• September, 30 days
• October, 31 days
• November, 30 days
• December, 31 days

For the rationale behind the unusual day lengths, see February and August.

Related Topics:
February - August

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

One of Wikipedia's sister projects, Wiktionary, provides translations of each of the Gregorian/Julian calendar months into a dozen or more languages. Month-by-month links are provided here: January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November, December.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Months existing in the Roman calendar in the past include:

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

• Mercedonius, an occasional month after February to realign the calendar.
• Quintilis, renamed to July in honor of Julius Caesar.
• Sextilis, renamed to August in honor of Caesar Augustus.

One mnemonic for remembering the lengths of the months is to hold up your two fists with the index knuckle of your left hand against the index knuckle of your right hand. Then, starting with January from the little knuckle of your left hand, count knuckle, space, knuckle, space through the months. A knuckle represents a month of 31 days, and a space represents a short month.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Another one is:

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

:Thirty days hath September,

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

:April, June, and November;

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

:All the rest have thirty-one,

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

:Excepting February alone,

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

:Which hath but twenty-eight, in fine,

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

:Till leap year make it twenty-nine.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

::or, an alternate ending:

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

:Which has eight and a score,

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

:Until leap year gives it one day more.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

::or, another alternate ending:

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

:Which hath twenty-eight days clear,

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

:And twenty-nine in each leap year.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Islamic calendar

There are also twelve months in the Islamic calendar. They are named as follows:

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

• Muharram ul Haram (or shortened to Muharram) محرّم
• Safar صفر
• Rabi`-ul-Awwal (Rabi' I) ربيع الأول
• Rabi`-ul-Akhir (or Rabi` al-THaany) (Rabi' II) ربيع الآخر أو ربيع الثاني
• Jumaada-ul-Awwal (Jumaada I) جمادى الأول
• Jumaada-ul-Akhir (or Jumaada al-THaany) (Jumaada II) جمادى الآخر أو جمادى الثاني
• Rajab رجب
• Sha'aban شعبان
• Ramadhan رمضان
• Shawwal شوّال
• Dhul Qadah ذو القعدة (or Thw al-Qi`dah)
• Dhul Hijja ذو الحجة (or Thw al-Hijjah)

For details, please see Islamic calendar.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Hebrew Calendar

The Hebrew calendar has 12 or 13 months.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

• Nisan, 30 days
• Iyyar, 29 days
• Sivan, 30 days
• Tammuz, 29 days
• Av, 30 days
• Elul, 29 days
• Tishri, 30 days
• Heshvan, 29/30 days
• Kislev, 29/30 days
• Tevet, 29 days
• Shevat, 30 days
• Adar 1, 30 days, intercalary month
• Adar 2, 29 days

Adar 1 is only added in leap years. In ordinary years, Adar 2 is simply called Adar.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Hindu Calendar

The Hindu Calendar has various systems of naming the months. The months in the lunar calendar are:

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

• Chaitra
• Vaishaakha
• Jyaishtha
• Aashaadha
• Shraavana
• Bhaadrapada
• Aashvayuja
• Kaartika
• Maargashiirsha
• Pausha
• Maagha
• Phaalguna

These are also the names used in the Indian national calendar for the newly redefined months.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The names in the solar calendar are just the names of the zodiac sign in which the sun travels. They are

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

• Mesha
• Vrishabha
• Mithuna
• Kataka
• Simha
• Kanyaa
• Tulaa
• Vrishcika
• Dhanus
• Makara
• Kumbha
• Miina

Iranian/Persian calendar

The Iranian / Persian calendar, currently used in Iran and Afghanistan, also has 12 months. The Persian names are included in the parentheses.

Related Topics:
Iranian / Persian calendar - Iran - Afghanistan - Persian

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

• Farvardin (فروردین)‎, 31 days
• Ordibehesht (اردیبهشت)‎, 31 days
• Khordad (خرداد)‎, 31 days
• Tir (تیر)‎, 31 days
• Mordad (مرداد)‎, 31 days
• Shahrivar (شهریور)‎, 31 days
• Mehr (مهر)‎, 30 days
• Aban (آبان)‎, 30 days
• Azar (آذر)‎, 30 days
• Dey (دی)‎, 30 days
• Bahman (بهمن)‎, 30 days
• Esfand (اسفند)‎, 29 days, 30 in leap years

Icelandic/Old Norse calendar

The old icelandic calendar is not in official use anymore, but some holidays and annual feasts are still calculated according to it in Iceland. It has 12 months, broken down into two groups of six.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

• Skammdegi (e. Short days)
• Gormánuður (14. october - 13. november, e. slaughter month or Gór's month)
• Ýlir (14. november - 13. december, e. Yule month)
• Mörsugur (14. december - 12. january, e. fat sucking month)
• Þorri (13. january - 11. february, e. frozen snow month)
• Góa (12. february - 13. march, e. Góa's month, see Nór)
• Einmánuður (14. march - 13. april, e. lone or single month)
• Náttleysi (e. Nightless days)
• Harpa (14. april - 13. may, Harpa is a female name, probably a forgotten goddess)
• Skerpla (14. may - 12. june, another forgotten goddess)
• Sólmánuður (13. june - 12. july, e. sun month)
• Heyannir (13. july - 14. august, e. hay business month)
• Tvímánuður (15. august - 14. september, e. two or second month)
• Haustmánuður (15. september - 13. october, e. autumn month)