Arabic names of calendar months

The Arabic names of calendar months of the Gregorian calendar are usually phonetic Arabic pronunciations of the corresponding month names used in European languages. An exception is the Aramaic calendar used in Iraq and the Levant, which names most of its Gregorian months after Aramaic names for months of the Babylonian calendar that occur at roughly the same time of year.

The Gregorian calendar is and has been used in nearly all the countries of the Arab world, in many places long before European occupation of some of them. Currently, all Arab states except Saudi Arabia (which uses the Islamic calendar for all purposes) 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 the Syro-Mesopotamian 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:

Levant and Mesopotamia

These names are used primarily in Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Palestine and Jordan. These months are likely derived from the Aramaic names of the Babylonian calendar, and many are cognate with the names of the approximately equivalent months of the Hebrew calendar.

Nine of these names were used in the Ottoman Rumi calendar, of which five remain in use in modern Turkish.

No.	Month	Arabic name	Transliteration	Hebrew cognate
1	January	كانون الثاني	Kānūn ath-Thānī
2	February	شباط	Shubāṭ	Shevat
3	March	آذار	Ādhār	Adar
4	April	نيسان	Nīsān	Nisan
5	May	أيار	Ayyār	Iyar
6	June	حزيران	Ḥazīrān / Ḥuzayrān
7	July	تموز	Tammūz	Tammuz
8	August	آب	Āb	Av
9	September	أيلول	Aylūl	Elul
10	October	تشرين الأول	Tishrīn al-Awwal	Tishrei
11	November	تشرين الثاني	Tishrīn ath-Thānī
12	December	كانون الأول	Kānūn al-Awwal

Egypt, Sudan, Arabia (All Gulf countries)

No.	Month	Arabic name	Transliteration	Egyptian pronunciation
1	January	يناير	Yanāyir	[jæ'næːjer]
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 / يونية	Yūniyū / Yūniyya	[ˈjonjæ, -jo]
7	July	يوليو / يولية	Yūliyū / Yūliyya	[ˈjoljæ, -jo]
8	August	أغسطس	Aghusṭus	[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-]

Libya (1969–2011)

The names of months used in Libya were derived from various sources, and were assembled after Muammar al-Gaddafi's seizure of power in 1969 and abolished after the 17 February 2011 revolution. The decision of changing calendar names was adopted in June 1986. Although the Libyan calendar follows the same sequence of the (renamed) Gregorian months, it counts the years from the death of the prophet Muhammad. This reckoning is therefore ten years behind the solar hegira used in Afghanistan and Persia.

No.	Month	Arabic name	Transliteration	Meaning
1	January	أي النار	Ayy an-Nār	which of the fires
2	February	النوار	an-Nuwwār	the mornings
3	March	الربيع	ar-Rabī‘	the spring/fall
		al-Mirrij was also used
4	April	الطير	aṭ-Ṭayr	the bird
5	May	الماء	al-Mā’	the water
6	June	الصيف	aṣ-Ṣayf	the summer
7	July	ناصر	Nāṣir	from Gamal Abd el-Nasser
8	August	هانيبال	Hānībāl	from Hannibal
9	September	الفاتح	al-Fātiḥ	the lightened
10	October	التمور / الثمور	at-Tumūr / ath-Thumūr	the dates
11	November	الحرث	al-Ḥarth	the tillage
12	December	الكانون	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 and 1881-1956 in Tunisia). The original French names are therefore listed below.

No.	Month	Arabic name	Transliteration	French name
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	Juwīliyya	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

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	يناير	Yannāyir
2	February	فبراير	Fibrāyir
3	March	مارس	Mārs
4	April	أبريل	Ibrīl
5	May	مايو	Māyū
6	June	يونيو	Yūniyū
7	July	يوليوز	Yūliyū
8	August	غشت	Ghusht
9	September	شتمبر	Shutambir
10	October	أكتوبر	Uktūbir
11	November	نونبر	Nuwanbir
12	December	دجمبر	Dujambir