Full Moon - Full Moon Names

Full Moon Names

It is traditional to assign special names to each full moon of the year, though the rules that determine the name for a given month's full moon has changed over time (e.g., the blue moon). An ancient method of assigning names is based upon seasons and quarters of the year. For instance, the Egg Moon (the full moon before Easter) would be the first moon after March 21, and the Lenten Moon would be the last moon on or before March 21. Modern practice, however, is to assign the traditional names based on the Gregorian calendar month when the full moon falls. This method frequently results in the same name as the older method would, and is far more convenient to use.

The following table gives the traditional English names for each month's full moon, the names given by Algonquian peoples in the northern and eastern United States, other common names, and Hindu. Note that purnima or pornima is Sanskrit for full moon, which has also become the Malay word for full moon purnama. Full moon days are sacred according to Buddhist tradition and called Uposatha in Pali. For the names of the Uposatha days in Asian Buddhist countries see the article Uposatha.

**Full moon names**
Positional name	Associated Month	English names	Algonquian names	Other names used	Hindu names	Sinhala Names
Winter Solstice
Early Winter	January	Wolf Moon	Sun has not strength to thaw	Moon After Yule, Ice Moon, Old Moon	Paush Poornima	Duruthu
Mid Winter	February	Snow Moon	Ice in river is gone	Hunger Moon, Storm Moon, Candles Moon	Magh Poornima	Navam
Late Winter	March	Storm Moon	Catching fish	Crow Moon, Crust Moon, Sugar Moon, Sap Moon, Chaste Moon, Death Moon, Worm Moon, Lenten Moon	basanta (spring) purnima, dol purnima (holi)	Medin
Vernal Equinox
Early Spring	April	Seed Moon	When they set Indian corn	Sprouting Grass Moon, Fish Moon, Growing Moon, Waking Moon, Pink Moon	Hanuman Jayanti	Bak
Mid Spring	May	Milk Moon	When women weed corn	Corn Planting Moon, Corn Moon, Hare Moon, Flower Moon	Buddha Poornima	Vesak
Late Spring	June	Mead Moon	When they hill Indian corn	Honey Moon, Rose Moon, Hot Moon, Planting Moon, Flower Moon, Strawberry Moon	Wat Poornima	Poson
Summer Solstice
Early Summer	July	Hay Moon	Squash are ripe	Thunder Moon, Mead Moon	Guru Purnima	Esala
Mid Summer	August	Corn Moon	When Indian corn is edible	Red Moon, Green Grain Moon, Lightning Moon, Dog Moon	Narali Poornima, Raksha bandhan	Nikini
Late Summer	September	Harvest Moon	Middle between harvest and eating corn	Corn Moon, Barley Moon, Fruit Moon	Bhadrapad Poornima	Binara
Autumnal Equinox
Early Fall	October	Hunter's Moon	White frost on grass	Travel Moon, Dying Grass Moon, Blood Moon, Harvest Moon	Kojagiri or Sharad Purnima, lakshmi puja	Vap
Mid Fall	November	Beaver Moon	Much white frost on grass	Frost Moon, Snow Moon, Hunter's Moon	Kartik Poornima	Il
Late Fall	December	Oak Moon		Frost Moon, Winter Moon, Long Night's Moon, Moon Before Yule	Margashirsha Poornima	Unduvap

Famous quotes containing the words full moon, full, moon and/or names:

“The full moon
cannot gain
a likeness to your face,
so god destroys it
time and again,
as if to create it
by some other means.”
—Hla Stavhana (c. 50 A.D.)

“Never, my dear Sir, do you take it into your head that I do not love you; you may settle yourself in full confidence both of my love and my esteem; I love you as a kind man, I value you as a worthy man, and hope in time to reverence you as a man of exemplary piety.”
—Samuel Johnson (1709–1784)

“No, they are dark and wrinkled and hairy,
caves of the Moon . . .——— And when a
dark humming fills us, a
coldness towards life,
we are too much women to
own such unwomanliness.”
—Denise Levertov (b. 1923)

“Men have sometimes exchanged names with their friends, as if they would signify that in their friend each loved his own soul.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)