Celebrate Your Name Week on March, 2025: who made up the names for the months and the days of the week?

Celebrate Your Name Week 2025.

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January was named after Janus, the Roman god of doors, beginnings, sunset and sunrise. He had one face looking forward and one backward (to the new and old years). (Read more here: )

February this also dates back to Roman times when February 15 was the day the Romans celebrated the festival of forgiveness for sins. It comes from the Latin 'februare' meaning "to purify."

March was named after Mars, the Roman god of war and was the first month of the old Roman year.

April was originally the Roman month Aprilis, whose name was perhaps derived from 'aperire,' (Latin "to open," as in opening buds and blossoms) or perhaps from Aphrodite, original Greek name of Venus.

May was named after Maia, a Roman goddess, the mother of Mercury by Jupiter, and the daughter of Atlas.

June was named after Juno, the chief Roman goddess.

July originally Quintilis (the fifth month), in 44 BC this month was renamed for Julius Caesar (who was born in Quintilis). Caesar reformed the calendar by adding an extra two months (January and February) to the original ten-month Roman calendar.

August this was formerly Sextilis (sixth month in the Roman calendar) but was re-named in 8 BC for Augustus Caesar. Augustus also took a day from February and added it to this month so that his month would have the same number of days as Caesar's (his adoptive father) ... (Men!)

September originally the seventh month ('septem' is Latin for seven).

October originally the eighth month in the Julian (Roman) calendar ('octo' is Latin for eight). Catholic countries adopted the Gregorian calendar in 1582, skipping 10 days in that October to correct for too many leap years. (See below for more details.)

November the ninth Roman month ('novem' is Latin for nine).

December the Julian (Roman) year's tenth month ('decem' is Latin for ten).

Caesar developed a new calendar of 364 1/4 days, which is roughly the time it takes the earth to go around the sun from the beginning of spring to the beginning of spring the following year. Caesar's calendar was normally 365 days long but included an extra day (a leap day) every four years to account for the extra one-quarter of a day. This intercalary day was added prior to February 25 each year.

However, you know what they say about the best laid plans of mice and men ... Unfortunately, Caesar's calendar wasn't quite accurate enough because the year is not 365 days and 6 hours (365.25 days), but is 365 days 5 hours 48 minutes, and 46 seconds (365.242199 days). So his calendar was 11 minutes and 14 seconds too slow. Now that wasn't too much of a worry - especially in the days before you had to know the time so you could set your VCR, but over a long period it made a difference. In fact it added up to be a complete day every 128 years.

So in 1582, by Pope Gregory XIII consulted his astronomers and they came up with a reform that added an intercalary day every four years (moved to after February 28 to make things easier). It just shows how smart these blokes were when you hear what they did next ...

Because this still wasn't exactly right, they declared that there would be no leap year in years ending in 00 - unless those years were divisible by 400. So the years 1700, 1800, 1900, and 2100 would not be leap years, but the years 1600 and 2000 would. This change was so accurate that today, scientists need only add leap seconds every few years to the clock in order to keep the calendar matching the tropical year. Not bad for a bit of star-gazing, a few charts and a quill dipped in ink, eh?

But back to the Romans ... their monthly calendar was originally based on the first three phases of the moon. The new moon was the day of the Kalends, the moon's first quarter was the day of the Nones, and the Ides fell on the day of the full moon. The Kalends' section of the month was the longest, since it spanned two lunar phases, from the full to the new moon. The Romans had an interesting way of counting the days in each month. Instead of starting from 1 and counting up, the usually eminently practical and sensible Romans had a real bad-hair day and came up with a decidedly weird system. They organised the months around these three days, and then counted ... wait for it ... backwards from the three fixed points.

Kalends 1st day of the month. (Kalendrium is the Latin for "account book" and Kalend, the first of the month, was the same in Roman times as it is now, the date on which the bills were due.

Nones the 7th day in March, May, July, and October; the 5th in the other months.

Ides the 15th day in March, May, July, and October; the 13th in the other months.

So February 7 would be VII Ides ... 7 days before the Ides (the Roman method of counting days was inclusive; in other words, the Ides would be counted as one of the 7 days).

So now you know where the months got their names ... but what about those days? Talk about weird words ... and wonderful theories. Here's a fascinating little conversation filler for you:

"The Latin names of the Planets were simple translations of the Greek names, which in turn were translations of the Babylonian names, which go back to the Sumerians.

"The Germanic version of the Latin day names has some correspondences and some differences. In English, the 1st, 2nd, and 7th days are still named after the Sun, Moon, and Saturn, respectively. The 6th day, Friday, looks like the name (Fria or Freya) of a Germanic love goddess, which would correspond to Venus (fri-, as in "friend," is a cognate of philein, "to love," in Greek), though the day is also said to be named after the goddess Frigg, who is also a goddess of love, and of the hearth (which would be Vesta rather than Venus in Rome). The 5th day, Thursday, named after Jupiter, who is a thunder god in Latin, is named after a Germanic thunder god, well known as "Thor" in Norse mythology. Tuesday is named after Tiw, a god of law, but also said to be a god of war, which would match up to Mars. Wednesday is named after the king of the gods, who was Wotan in ancient German and Odin in Norse mythology. This has no obvious correspondence to Mercury, though Odin as a god of wisdom might suggest the role of Mercury in association with learning, and in Late Antiquity with esoteric knowledge.

"The curious thing about the Latin names, clearly using the planets, is that the ancient order of the planets, rising from the Earth to the Fixed Stars, can be read off by starting with Monday and jumping every other day for two weeks: Monday (Moon), Wednesday (Mercury), Friday (Venus), Sunday (Sun), Tuesday (Mars), Thursday (Jupiter), and Saturday (Saturn). One is left with the impression that the names were assigned in a kind of code, so that the Sun would come first in the week, but then the true order of the planets could be read off nevertheless. Saturn comes both at the end of the week and at the end of planets. The day that many people consider to the the 1st day of the week, Monday, is the first planet and does begin the sequence of planets. "

... Doo-doo, doo-doo ... (that's meant to be 'Twilight Zone' music) Spooky, eh? If you missed the origins of the week days, here they are again:

Monday - Monandaeg or Moonday. The moon was worshipped as the wife of the sun, among other things ("daeg" means day).

Tuesday - Tiwsday or Tiwesdaeg. Tyr, god of war

Wednesday - Wodensday or Wodnesdaeg. Norse god Odin, or Wodin. Tyr's father

Thursday - Thorsday or Thunresdaeg. Thor, Norse god of Thunder

Friday - Frigsday or Frigedaeg. Norse goddess Freya. Wife of Odin, mother of Thor. Named a day after her lest she be jealous and work evil upon them

Saturday - Seternesday or Saterdaeg. Norse god Seterne; also the Roman god Saturn who presided over the sowing of the seed. His festival was Saturnalia, December 17. Because of the wildness of the revels during the festival the name has come to mean a time of wild revelry and tumult.

Sunday - Sunnandaeg, from "sunnan" meaning sun. It is regarded as a name surviving from ancient sun worship. As the Resurrection of Christ occurred on the first day of the week the early Christians began to assemble for worship on that day instead of on the Jewish Sabbath, which is Saturday.

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Peace055 – Which is the first day of the week mentioned in the Bible?

As some answered correctly, although our English names for the days of the week did not exist then, the Sabbath is "essentially" the last day of our week (i.e. Saturday). In *fact*, the Jewish Sabbath begins at sundown Friday and ends at sundown Saturday. Thus, *all* Jewish days. *This* is why Sunday is the 1st day of the week, not because (as one answer suggested) Sunday is the Lord's Day (which it is), but rather because the Sabbath was established as the last day of a 7-day week centuries prior to Jesus.

It is true that many Christians celebrate Sunday as "their Sabbath", but this is an adaptation of the Jewish Sabbath spoken of in the bible. Don't forget, Jesus was a Jew.

Now, as for the 3 days and 3 nights.....

First, realize that this verse does *not* say "3 whole days and 3 whole nights, exactly 72 hours, not a minute more or less". Indeed, it is reasonable to assume that they use this term much as we would, and that it could be translated "3 days" without loss of meaning. *However*, don't forget that Jewish days began at sunset, not sunrise!

Thus, Jesus died and was buried *prior* to sunset on the day of his crucifixion. This was necessary because the following day (beginning at sundown) was the Sabbath. So, by sunset we have Jesus dead and buried one day. *Not* a whole day, but still a day.

Then Saturday, which for the Jews ends at sunset on Saturday, not at midnight. Thus, we have a second *and* third day. Jesus was already resurrected *very* early the next morning (Mary Magdalene left to go to the tomb while it was still dark).

The only thing we lack is a third "night". There are certainly 2 complete nights, and 3 days (only one whole day of daylight, but 3 different days by Jewish reckoning).

So, *if* the 3rd night is a figure of speech (like, "I haven't slept in 3 days", meaning 48 hours and 1 minute), then the problem is solved. If not, is there a (reasonable) way to include at least a partial 3rd night? We cannot be certain how the ancient Jews marked the beginning of the day, as Jewish sects, and even scholars *within* sects, in our own time are not in agreement. The problem is: does the day start when the sun touches the horizon, when it is split by the horizon, or the moment when it entirely drops below the horizon? If the last, then we definitely have our 3rd "night" (assuming we need it), for it surely would have been quite dark within a walled city even before the sun fell below the horizon.

Of course, *this* is mere supposition. Here, I am choosing a scenario based on the merit that it best explains the present conundrum. Personally, I feel that the "3 days and nights" is simply a figure of speech used to bring the point home that Jesus was dead for 3 days - not just during working hours, but the entire time. Not 3 *whole* days, but 3 days *continuously*, without a break from being dead. In other words, he was *really* dead. *Very* dead!

I think that's the point of that scripture, but as seen, you *can* explain it physically, as well. Without a doubt, there are 3 days and 2 nights - this requires no assumption whatsoever.

Jim,

Kwanzaa- Can anyone explain to me what it is and how it is celebrated?

Kwanzaa is a week-long Africa Amercan holiday honoring African heritage, marked by participants lighting a kinara (candle holder).[1] It is observed from December 26 to January 1 each year.

Kwanzaa consists of seven days of celebration, featuring activities such as candle-lighting and pouring of libations, and culminating in a feast and gift giving. It was created by Ron Karenga and was first celebrated from December 26, 1966, to January 1, 1967.

Ron Karenga created Kwanzaa in 1966 as the first specifically African-American holiday.[2] Karenga said his goal was to "...give Blacks an alternative to the existing holiday and give Blacks an opportunity to celebrate themselves and history, rather than simply imitate the practice of the dominant society."[3] The name Kwanzaa derives from the Swahili phrase "matunda ya kwanza", meaning "first fruits". The choice of Swahili, an East African language, reflects its status as a symbol of Pan-Africanism, especially in the 1960s.

Kwanzaa is a celebration that has its roots in the black nationalist movement of the 1960s, and was established as a means to help African Americans reconnect with their African cultural and historical heritage by uniting in meditation and study of "African traditions" and "common humanist principles." The first Kwanzaa stamp was issued by the United States Postal Service on October 22, 1997 [4] at the Natural History Museum in Los Angeles, California. In 2004 a second Kwanzaa stamp, created by artist Daniel Minter was issued which has seven figures in colorful robes symbolizing the seven principles.[5]

During the early years of Kwanzaa, Karenga said that it was meant to be an alternative to Christmas, that "Jesus was psychotic", and that Christianity was a white religion that blacks should shun.[6][7] However, as Kwanzaa gained mainstream adherents, Karenga altered his position so as not to alienate practicing Christians, then stating in the 1997 Kwanzaa: A Celebration of Family, Community, and Culture, "Kwanzaa was not created to give people an alternative to their own religion or religious holiday."[8]

The origins of Kwanzaa are not secret and are openly acknowledged by those promoting the holiday.[9] Many Christian African-Americans who celebrate Kwanzaa do so in addition to observing Christmas.[citation needed].

[edit] Principles of Kwanzaa

Kwanzaa celebrates what its founder called "The Seven Principles of Kwanzaa," or Nguzo Saba (originally Nguzu Saba - "The Seven Principles of Blackness"), which Karenga said "is a communitarian African philosophy" consisting of what Karenga called "the best of African thought and practice in constant exchange with the world." These seven principles comprise Kawaida, a Swahili term for tradition and reason. Each of the seven days of Kwanzaa is dedicated to one of the following principles, as follows:

* Umoja (Unity) To strive for and to maintain unity in the family, community, nation and race.

* Kujichagulia (Self-Determination) To define ourselves, name ourselves, create for ourselves and speak for ourselves.

* Ujima (Collective Work and Responsibility) To build and maintain our community together and make our brothers' and sisters' problems our problems and to solve them together.

* Ujamaa (Cooperative Economics) To build and maintain our own stores, shops and other businesses and to profit from them together.

* Nia (Purpose) To make our collective vocation the building and developing of our community in order to restore our people to their traditional greatness.

* Kuumba (Creativity) To do always as much as we can, in the way we can, in order to leave our community more beautiful and beneficial than we inherited it.

* imani (Faith) To believe with all our heart in our people, our parents, our teachers, our leaders and the righteousness and victory of our struggle.

[edit] Popularity

In President George W. Bush's 2004 Presidential Kwanzaa Message, he said that, "During Kwanzaa, millions of African Americans and people of African descent gather to celebrate their heritage and ancestry. Kwanzaa celebrations provide an opportunity to focus on the importance of family, community, and history, and to reflect on the Nguzo Saba or seven principles of African culture. These principles emphasize unity, self-determination, collective work and responsibility, cooperative economics, purpose, creativity, and faith."[10]

In 2004 BIGresearch conducted a marketing survey in the United States for the National Retail Foundation, which found that 1.6% of those surveyed planned to celebrate Kwanzaa. If generalized to the the US population as a whole, this would imply that around 4.7 million Americans planned to celebrate Kwanzaa in that year[11]. In a 2006 speech, Maulana Karenga asserted that 28 million people celebrate Kwanzaa. He has always maintained it is celebrated all over the world.[1] Lee D. Baker puts the number at 12 million.[12]

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