Origin of the Names of the Months January Janus (gate), the two-faced god looking to the past and future, hence beginnings February Februa, (expiatory offerings) March The god of Mars April Etruscan apru (april), probably shortened from the Greek Aphrodite, goddess of love and earlier of the underworld. May Maia's month; Maia (She who is great), the eldest of the Pleiades and the mother of Hermes by Zeus. June Junius, an old Roman noble family (from Juno, wife and sister of Jupiter, equal to Greek Hera). July Julius Caesar (Julius means descended from Jupiter) the ju of June and July are the same: Jupiter Sky-Father August Augustus Caesar (augustus means sacred, grand). September `Seventh-month' to `tenth-month', the -ember may come to from the same root as `month'. December