The words “September, October, November, and December” contain the latin roots for the numbers 7, 8, 9, and 10. So why do those months hold different positions in the calendar?

Question

The words “September, October, November, and December” contain the latin roots for the numbers 7, 8, 9, and 10. So why do those months hold different positions in the calendar?

In: 34

Answer 1

It’s a common misconception that two months were added to a ten-month Roman calendar. The Roman calendar actually always had twelve months, but the year started in March, making September the seventh month, etc. The names became misaligned when most European countries moved the start of the year to January 1 in the Renaissance.

The confusion comes from people being taught that July and August were added to the Roman calendar to honor Julius Caesar and Augustus. In fact, they just renamed the months Quintilis and Sextilis (fifth and sixth).

EDIT: I was a little off. The earlier responder was right that January and February were added very early in Roman history and New Year’s Day moved to January 1. It’s true that March was the beginning of the year in medieval Europe but not for the Romans. It seems I was the one getting my calendar changes conflated.