# Arabic names of Gregorian months

The Arabic names of the months of the Gregorian calendar are usually phonetic Arabic pronunciations of the corresponding month names used in European languages. An exception is the Assyrian calendar used in Iraq and the Levant, whose month names are inherited via Classical Arabic from the Babylonian and Aramaic lunisolar calendars and correspond to roughly the same time of year.
Though the lunar Hijri calendar and solar Hijri calendar are prominent in the Middle East, the Gregorian calendar is and has been used in nearly all the countries of the Arab world, in many places long before European occupation. All Arab states use the Gregorian calendar for civil purposes. The names of the Gregorian months as used in Egypt, Sudan, and Yemen are widely regarded as standard across the Arab world, although their Classical Arabic names are often used alongside them. In other Arab countries, some modification or actual changes in naming or pronunciation of months are observed.

## Iraq and the Levant

These names are used primarily in Iraq, Syria, Jordan, Lebanon and Palestine. Classical Arabic inherited the names from the Babylonian and Assyrian calendars, which are lunisolar. Although the Arabic names are cognate, they do not refer to the lunar months, as when the names are used in their original Babylonian. Nine of these names were used in the Ottoman Turkish calendar, of which five remain in use in the modern Turkish calendar.
| No. | Month | Arabic name | Transliteration | Syriac cognate | Transliteration |
| 1 | January | كانُون الثانِي | Kānūn aṯ-Ṯānī | ܟܢܘܢ ܒ | Kānōn [ʾ]Ḥrāy |
| 2 | February | شُباط | Šubāṭ | ܫܒܛ | Šḇāṭ |
| 3 | March | آذار | ʾĀḏār | ܐܕܪ | ʾĀḏar |
| 4 | April | نَيْسان | Naysān | ܢܝܣܢ | Nīsān |
| 5 | May | أَيّار | ʾAyyār | ܐܝܪ | ʾĪyār |
| 6 | June | حَزِيران | Ḥazīrān | ܚܙܝܪܢ | Ḥzīrān |
| 7 | July | تَمُّوز | Tammūz | ܬܡܘܙ | Tammūz |
| 8 | August | آب | ʾĀb | ܐܒ | ʾĀb/Ṭabbāḥ |
| 9 | September | أَيْلُول | ʾAylūl | ܐܝܠܘܠ | ʾĪlūl |
| 10 | October | تِشْرِين الْأَوَّل | Tišrīn al-ʾAwwal | ܬܫܪܝܢ ܐ | Tešrīn Qḏīm |
| 11 | November | تِشْرِين الثانِي | Tišrīn aṯ-Ṯānī | ܬܫܪܝܢ ܒ | Tešrīn [ʾ]Ḥrāy |
| 12 | December | كانُون الْأَوَّل | Kānūn al-ʾAwwal | ܟܢܘܢ ܐ | Kānōn Qḏīm |

## Egypt, Libya, Sudan, and Eastern Arabia

The names of the Gregorian months in Egypt, Sudan and Eastern Arabia are based on the old Latin names.
| No. | Month | Arabic name | Transliteration | Latin name |
| 1 | January | يَنايِر | Yanāyir | Ianuarius |
| 2 | February | فِبْرايِر | Fibrāyir | Februarius |
| 3 | March | مارِس | Mārs/Māris | Martius |
| 4 | April | أَبْرِيل / إبْرِيل | ʾAbrīl / ʾIbrīl | Aprilis |
| 5 | May | مايُو | Māyū | Maius |
| 6 | June | يُونِيُو / يُونِية | Yūniyū / Yūnyah | Iunius |
| 7 | July | يُولِيُو / يُولِية | Yūliyū / Yūliyah | Iulius |
| 8 | August | أَغُسْطُس | ʾAğusṭus | Augustus |
| 9 | September | سِبْتَمْبَر | Sibtambar | September |
| 10 | October | أُكْتُوبَر | ʾUktūbar | October |
| 11 | November | نُوفَمْبَر / نُوَنْبِر | Nūfambar / Nuwanbar | November |
| 12 | December | دِيسَمْبَر | Dīsambar | December |

### Libya (1969–2011)

The names of months used in the Great Socialist People's Libyan Arab Jamahiriya (1977–2011) were derived from various sources, and were assembled after Muammar Gaddafi's seizure of power in 1969 and abolished in 2011 after the 17 February Revolution. The decision of changing calendar names was adopted in June 1986. The Libyan calendar, which followed the same sequence of renamed Gregorian months, counted the years from the death of Muhammad. This reckoning was therefore ten years behind the Solar Hijri calendar used in Iran and Afghanistan.
| No. | Month | Arabic name | Transliteration | Meaning |
| 1 | January | أَيّ النار | Ayy an-Nār | that of the fires |
| 2 | February | النُوّار | an-Nuwwār | the blooming |
| 3 | March | الرَبِيع | ar-Rabīʿ | the spring |
| 3 | March | al-Mirrij was also used | al-Mirrij was also used | |
| 4 | April | الطَيْر | aṭ-Ṭayr | the bird |
| 5 | May | الماء | al-Māʾ | the water |
| 6 | June | الصَيْف | aṣ-Ṣayf | the summer |
| 7 | July | ناصِر | Nāṣir | from Gamal Abd el-Nasser |
| 8 | August | هانِيبال | Hānībāl | from Hannibal Barca |
| 9 | September | الفاتِح | al-Fātiḥ | referring to al-Fateh Revolution |
| 10 | October | التُمُور / الثُمُور | at-Tumūr / aṯ-Ṯumūr | the dates |
| 11 | November | الحَرْث | al-Ḥarṯ | the tillage |
| 12 | December | الكانُون | al-Kānūn | the canon |

## Algeria and Tunisia

The names of the Gregorian months in Algeria and Tunisia are based on the French names of the months, reflecting France's long colonisation of these countries (1830–1962 in Algeria; 1881–1956 in Tunisia).
| No. | Month | Arabic name | Transliteration | French name |
| 1 | January | جانْفِي | Jānvi | janvier |
| 2 | February | فِيفْرِي | Fīvri | février |
| 3 | March | مارْس | Mārs / Māris | mars |
| 4 | April | أفْرِيل | ʾAvrīl | avril |
| 5 | May | ماي | Mēy | mai |
| 6 | June | جْوان | Jwān | juin |
| 7 | July | جْوِيلِْية | Jwīlya | juillet |
| 8 | August | أُوت | ʾŪt | août |
| 9 | September | سِبْتُمْبر | Septōmbr | septembre |
| 10 | October | أُكْتُوبر | ʾOktōbr | octobre |
| 11 | November | نُوفُمْبر | Novōmbr | novembre |
| 12 | December | دِيسُمْبر | Desōmbr | décembre |

## Morocco

As Morocco was long part of the Roman Empire, the long-standing agricultural Berber calendar of the country preserves the Julian calendar and (in modified form) the names of its months. There are regional variations of the Berber calendar, since some communities did not recognise the Julian 29 February in century years where the Gregorian calendar had no equivalent date. When Morocco adopted the Gregorian calendar for civil purposes, the names of the months were taken from this local tradition.
| No. | Month | Arabic name | Transliteration |
| 1 | January | يَنّايِر | Yannāyir |
| 2 | February | فِبْرايِر | Fibrāyir |
| 3 | March | مارْس | Mārs |
| 4 | April | إبْرِيل | ʾIbrīl |
| 5 | May | ماي | Māy |
| 6 | June | يُونِيُّو | Yūniyyū |
| 7 | July | يُولِيُّوز | Yūliyyūz |
| 8 | August | غُشْت | Ğušt |
| 9 | September | شُتَنْبِر | Šutanbir |
| 10 | October | أُكْتُوبِر | ʾUktūbir |
| 11 | November | نُوَنْبِر | Nuwanbir |
| 12 | December | دُجَنْبِر | Dujanbir |