The Arabic names of calendar months of the Gregorian calendar

Gregorian calendar

The Gregorian calendar, also known as the Western calendar, or Christian calendar, is the internationally accepted civil calendar. It was introduced by Pope Gregory XIII, after whom the calendar was named, by a decree signed on 24 February 1582, a papal bull known by its opening words Inter...

 are usually phonetic Arabic pronunciations of the corresponding month names used in European languages. An exception is the Syrian calendar used in the Levant

Levant

The Levant or ) is the geographic region and culture zone of the "eastern Mediterranean littoral between Anatolia and Egypt" . The Levant includes most of modern Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, Israel, the Palestinian territories, and sometimes parts of Turkey and Iraq, and corresponds roughly to the...

, which names most of its Gregorian months after Aramaic names for months of the Babylonian calendar

Babylonian calendar

The Babylonian calendar was a lunisolar calendar with years consisting of 12 lunar months, each beginning when a new crescent moon was first sighted low on the western horizon at sunset, plus an intercalary month inserted as needed by decree. The calendar is based on a Sumerian precedecessor...

 that occur at roughly the same time of year.

The Gregorian calendar is used nearly in all countries of Arab world

Arab world

The Arab world refers to Arabic-speaking states, territories and populations in North Africa, Western Asia and elsewhere.The standard definition of the Arab world comprises the 22 states and territories of the Arab League stretching from the Atlantic Ocean in the west to the Arabian Sea in the...

, in many places long before European colonization. Currently, all Arab states save Saudi Arabia

Saudi Arabia

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia , commonly known in British English as Saudi Arabia and in Arabic as as-Sa‘ūdiyyah , is the largest state in Western Asia by land area, constituting the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and the second-largest in the Arab World...

 (which uses the Islamic calendar

Islamic calendar

The Hijri calendar , also known as the Muslim calendar or Islamic calendar , is a lunar calendar consisting of 12 lunar months in a year of 354 or 355 days. It is used to date events in many Muslim countries , and used by Muslims everywhere to determine the proper day on which to celebrate Islamic...

 for all purposes) use the Gregorian calendar for civil purposes. The names of the Gregorian months as used in Egypt

Egypt

Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...

, Sudan

Sudan

Sudan , officially the Republic of the Sudan , is a country in North Africa, sometimes considered part of the Middle East politically. It is bordered by Egypt to the north, the Red Sea to the northeast, Eritrea and Ethiopia to the east, South Sudan to the south, the Central African Republic to the...

, and Yemen

Yemen

The Republic of Yemen , commonly known as Yemen , is a country located in the Middle East, occupying the southwestern to southern end of the Arabian Peninsula. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to the north, the Red Sea to the west, and Oman to the east....

 are widely regarded as standard across the Arab world, although the Levantine names are often used alongside them. In other Arab countries some modification or actual changes in naming or pronunciation of months were observed. The names of the Gregorian calendar months in the different countries of the Arab world were as follows:

Egypt, Sudan, and Yemen

No.	Month	Arabic Name	In Arabic	Egyptian Egyptian Arabic Egyptian Arabic is the language spoken by contemporary Egyptians.It is more commonly known locally as the Egyptian colloquial language or Egyptian dialect ....  pronunciation
1	January	يناير	yanāyir	jæˈnæːjeɾ
2	February	فبراير	fibrāyir	febˈɾˤɑːjeɾ
3	March	مارس	māris	ˈmæːɾes
4	April	أبريل/إبريل	abrīl/ibrīl	ʔebˈɾiːl, ʔæb-
5	May	مايو	māyū	ˈmæːjo
6	June	يونيو/يونيه	yūnyū/yūnya	ˈjonjæ, -jo
7	July	يوليو/يوليه	| yūlyū/yūlia	ˈjoljæ, -jo
8	August	أغسطس	aġustus	ɑˈɣostˤos, oˈ-
9	September	سبتمبر	sibtambir	sebˈtæmbeɾ, -ˈtem-, -ˈtɑm-
10	October	أكتوبر	uktūbar	okˈtoːbɑɾˤ, ek-, ɑk-
11	November	نوفمبر	nūfambir	noˈvæmbeɾ, -ˈvem-, -ˈfæm-, -ˈfem-, -ˈvɑm-, -ˈfɑm-
12	December	ديسمبر	dīsambir	deˈsæmbeɾ, -ˈsem-, -ˈsɑm-

Levant

These names are used primarily in Iraq

Iraq

Iraq ; officially the Republic of Iraq is a country in Western Asia spanning most of the northwestern end of the Zagros mountain range, the eastern part of the Syrian Desert and the northern part of the Arabian Desert....

, Syria

Syria

Syria , officially the Syrian Arab Republic , is a country in Western Asia, bordering Lebanon and the Mediterranean Sea to the West, Turkey to the north, Iraq to the east, Jordan to the south, and Israel to the southwest....

, Lebanon

Lebanon

Lebanon , officially the Republic of LebanonRepublic of Lebanon is the most common term used by Lebanese government agencies. The term Lebanese Republic, a literal translation of the official Arabic and French names that is not used in today's world. Arabic is the most common language spoken among...

, Palestinian territories

Palestinian territories

The Palestinian territories comprise the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. Since the Palestinian Declaration of Independence in 1988, the region is today recognized by three-quarters of the world's countries as the State of Palestine or simply Palestine, although this status is not recognized by the...

, Israel

Israel

The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...

, and Jordan

Jordan

Jordan , officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan , Al-Mamlaka al-Urduniyya al-Hashemiyya) is a kingdom on the East Bank of the River Jordan. The country borders Saudi Arabia to the east and south-east, Iraq to the north-east, Syria to the north and the West Bank and Israel to the west, sharing...

. These months are likely derived from the Aramaic

Aramaic language

Aramaic is a group of languages belonging to the Afroasiatic language phylum. The name of the language is based on the name of Aram, an ancient region in central Syria. Within this family, Aramaic belongs to the Semitic family, and more specifically, is a part of the Northwest Semitic subfamily,...

 names of the old Semitic lunisolar calendar

Lunisolar calendar

A lunisolar calendar is a calendar in many cultures whose date indicates both the moon phase and the time of the solar year. If the solar year is defined as a tropical year then a lunisolar calendar will give an indication of the season; if it is taken as a sidereal year then the calendar will...

, and the names Šubāṭ, 'Ādār, Nīsān, 'Ayyār, Tammūz, 'Āb, Aylūl, and Tišrīn are cognate with the names of the approximately equivalent months of the Hebrew calendar

Hebrew calendar

The Hebrew calendar , or Jewish calendar, is a lunisolar calendar used today predominantly for Jewish religious observances. It determines the dates for Jewish holidays and the appropriate public reading of Torah portions, yahrzeits , and daily Psalm reading, among many ceremonial uses...

: Shevat

Shevat

Shevat is the fifth month of the civil year and the eleventh month of the ecclesiastical year on the Hebrew calendar. It is a winter month of 30 days...

, Adar

Adar

Adar is the sixth month of the civil year and the twelfth month of the ecclesiastical year on the Hebrew calendar. It is a winter month of 29 days...

, Nisan

Nisan

Nisan is the first month of the ecclesiastical year and the seventh month of the civil year, on the Hebrew calendar. The name of the month is Babylonian; in the Torah it is called the month of the Aviv, referring to the month in which barley was ripe. It is a spring month of 30 days...

, Iyar

Iyar

Iyar is the eighth month of the civil year and the second month of the ecclesiastical year on the Hebrew calendar. The name is Babylonian in origin. It is a spring month of 29 days. Iyar usually falls in April–June on the Gregorian calendar.In the Hebrew Bible, before the Babylonian Exile, the...

, Tammuz, Av

Av

Av is the eleventh month of the civil year and the fifth month of the ecclesiastical year on the Hebrew calendar. The name is Babylonian in origin and appeared in the Talmud around the 3rd century. This is the only month which is not named in the Bible. It is a summer month of 30 days...

, Elul

Elul

Elul is the twelfth month of the Jewish civil year and the sixth month of the ecclesiastical year on the Hebrew calendar. It is a summer month of 29 days...

, and Tishrei

Tishrei

Tishrei or Tishri , Tiberian: ; from Akkadian "Beginning", from "To begin") is the first month of the civil year and the seventh month of the ecclesiastical year in the Hebrew calendar. The name of the month is Babylonian. It is an autumn month of 30 days...

, which is used by Jews.

Nine of these names were used in the Ottoman Rumi calendar

Rumi calendar

This is about the solar Ottoman calendar based on the Julian calendar. For the lunar Hijri calendar see Islamic calendar.The Rumi calendar , a specific calendar based on the Julian calendar but starting with the year of Muhammad's emigration in 622 AD, was officially used by the Ottoman Empire...

, of which five remain in use in modern Turkish.

No.	Month	Arabic Name	Transliterated
1	January	كانون الثاني	Kānūn al-Thānī
2	February	شباط	Shubāṭ
3	March	آذار	Ādhār
4	April	نيسان	Nīsān
5	May	أيار	Ayyār
6	June	حزيران	Ḥazīrān / Ḥuzayrān
7	July	تموز	Tammūz
8	August	آب	Āb
9	September	أيلول	Aylūl
10	October	تشرين الأول	Tishrīn al-Awwal
11	November	تشرين الثاني	Tishrīn al-Thānī
12	December	كانون الأول	Kānūn al-Awwal

Libya

The names of months used in Libya

Libya

Libya is an African country in the Maghreb region of North Africa bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to the east, Sudan to the southeast, Chad and Niger to the south, and Algeria and Tunisia to the west....

 were derived from various sources, and were assembled after Muammar al-Gaddafi

Muammar al-Gaddafi

Muammar Muhammad Abu Minyar Gaddafi or "September 1942" 20 October 2011), commonly known as Muammar Gaddafi or Colonel Gaddafi, was the official ruler of the Libyan Arab Republic from 1969 to 1977 and then the "Brother Leader" of the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya from 1977 to 2011.He seized power in a...

's seizure of power in 1969.

No.	Month	Arabic Name	In Arabic
1	January	أي النار	ay n-nār
2	February	النوار	an-nuwwār
3	March	الربيع	ar-rabī
4	April	الطير	al-tayr
5	May	الماء	al-mā'
6	June	الصيف	al-sayf
7	July	ناصر	nāsir
8	August	هانيبال	hānībāl
9	September	الفاتح	al-fātieh
10	October	التمور، الثمور	at-tumūr; al-tumūr
11	November	الحرث	al-harth
12	December	الكانون	al-kānūn

Algeria and Tunisia

The names of the Gregorian months in Algeria

Algeria

Algeria , officially the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria , also formally referred to as the Democratic and Popular Republic of Algeria, is a country in the Maghreb region of Northwest Africa with Algiers as its capital.In terms of land area, it is the largest country in Africa and the Arab...

 and Tunisia

Tunisia

Tunisia , officially the Tunisian RepublicThe long name of Tunisia in other languages used in the country is: , is the northernmost country in Africa. It is a Maghreb country and is bordered by Algeria to the west, Libya to the southeast, and the Mediterranean Sea to the north and east. Its area...

 are based on the French

French language

French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...

 names of the months, reflecting France

France

The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

's long colonization of these countries (1830-1962, 132 years, in Algeria

French Algeria

French Algeria lasted from 1830 to 1962, under a variety of governmental systems. From 1848 until independence, the whole Mediterranean region of Algeria was administered as an integral part of France, much like Corsica and Réunion are to this day. The vast arid interior of Algeria, like the rest...

 and 1881-1956, 75 years, in Tunisia

French occupation of Tunisia

The French conquest of Tunisia occurred in two phases in 1881: the first consisting of the invasion and securing of the country before the signing of a treaty of protection, and the second consisting in the suppression of a rebellion...

). The original French names are therefore listed below.

No.	Month	Arabic Name	In Arabic	In French
1	January	جانفي	Jānfī	Janvier
2	February	فيفري	Fīfrī	Février
3	March	مارس	Mārs/Māris	Mars
4	April	أفريل	Afrīl	Avril
5	May	ماي	Māy	Mai
6	June	جوان	Juwān	Juin
7	July	جويلية	Juwīlyâ	Juillet
8	August	أوت	Ūt	Août
9	September	سبتمبر	Sibtambir	Septembre
10	October	أكتوبر	Uktūbir	Octobre
11	November	نوفمبر	Nūfambir	Novembre
12	December	ديسمبر	Dīsambir	Décembre

Mauritania

No.	Month	Arabic Name	In Arabic
1	January	يناير	yannāyir
2	February	فبراير	ibrāyir
3	March	مارس	mārs
4	April	إبريل	ibrīl
5	May	مايو	māyū
6	June	يونيو	yūniyū
7	July	يوليو	yūliyū
8	August	أغشت	aġušt
9	September	شتمبر	šutambir
10	October	أكتوبر	uktūbir
11	November	نوفمبر	nūfambir
12	December	دجمبر	dugambir

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