JANUARY in Roman mythology, JANUS, the god of doors and gateways and beginnings (which the Romans believed brought good endings). A pretty good name to start the year!

FEBRUARY From FEBRUA, the Feast of Purification, celebrated in ancient Rome. It was not originally included in the Roman calendar which began with March.

MARCH From MARS . In Roman mythology, the god of war, one of the most important gods. Mars was regarded as the father of the Roman people.

APRIL From APRILIS, perhaps from the Greek Aphrodite or a pagan underworld goddess.

MAY Named after Maia, the Roman goddess of the spring.

JUNE In Roman mythology, Juno, queen of the gods and wife and sister of the god Jupiter. She was the protector of women and was worshipped under several names. One of them was Hera.

JULY From JULIUS CAESAR, born in Rome on July 12 or 13 in 100 BC. He was the Roman general and statesman who laid the foundations of the Roman imperial system. In 44 BC he changed the name of the month Quintillis to Julius, after himself. The following year he decided (based on the advice of an astronomer) to use a purely solar calendar with 365 days. This calendar is known as the Julian calendar in his name.

AUGUST From AUGUSTUS CAESAR, born in 63 BC and died in 14 AD. He was the emperor of Rome from 27 BC until his death. He restored unity and orderly government to the empire after nearly a 100 years of civil wars. The month Sextillis was renamed Augustus after him in 45 BC.

SEPTEMBER From the Latin word SEPTEM meaning 7.

OCTOBER From the Latin word OCTO meaning 8.

NOVEMBER From the Latin word NOVEM meaning 9.

DECEMBER From the the Latin word DECEM meaning 10.