# August
**August** is the eighth month of the [Gregorian calendar](https://www.edgepedia.org/gregorian-calendar) and has 31 days.[1](https://www.timeanddate.com/calendar/months/august.html) It takes its name from the Roman emperor Augustus, whose honorific title, Latin *Augustus*, means "the venerable one" or "the great one."[1](https://www.timeanddate.com/calendar/months/august.html) • [2](https://www.etymonline.com/word/august) In the Northern Hemisphere August is the last month of meteorological summer; in the [Southern Hemisphere](https://www.edgepedia.org/southern-hemisphere) it is the last month of winter.[1](https://www.timeanddate.com/calendar/months/august.html) • [3](https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/news/meteorological-versus-astronomical-seasons)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Position and length | Eighth month of the Gregorian calendar, 31 days[1](https://www.timeanddate.com/calendar/months/august.html) |
| Original name | Sextilis, the sixth month of the pre-Julian Roman year, which began in March[4](https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/1911_Encyclop%C3%A6dia_Britannica/August) • [1](https://www.timeanddate.com/calendar/months/august.html) |
| Renaming | 8 BCE, by a senatus consultum renaming Sextilis as Augustus in the emperor's honor[2](https://www.etymonline.com/word/august) • [5](https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108635806.004) |
| Lengthening | In the Julian reform, Sextilis was extended from 29 to 31 days, along with January and December[6](https://www.timeanddate.com/calendar/julian-calendar.html) |
| Seasons | June, July, and August are summer in the Northern Hemisphere and winter in the Southern Hemisphere[7](https://www.noaa.gov/jetstream/global) |
| Notable sky event | The Perseid meteor shower, active between July 17 and August 24 and most visible around August 11 to 13[1](https://www.timeanddate.com/calendar/months/august.html) |
## Name and origin
The numbered names are remnants of this early calendar.[8](https://penelope.uchicago.edu/encyclopaedia_romana/calendar/romancalendar.html)
In 8 BCE the Senate passed a decree changing the name of Sextilis to *Augustus*, just as the preceding month Quintilis had earlier been renamed Iulius (July) for [Julius Caesar](https://www.edgepedia.org/julius-caesar), the creator of the calendar.[2](https://www.etymonline.com/word/august) • [5](https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108635806.004) • [9](https://dcc.dickinson.edu/grammar/latin/reckoning-time)
## Why Sextilis
According to a senatus consultum preserved by the late antique author [Macrobius](https://www.edgepedia.org/macrobius) ([Saturnalia](https://www.edgepedia.org/saturnalia) 1.12), the Senate justified its choice as follows: in Sextilis, Imperator Caesar Augustus held his first consulship and celebrated three triumphs in the city; the legions brought down from the [Janiculum](https://www.edgepedia.org/janiculum) came under his auspices; control of Egypt passed to the Roman people; and it was in this month that the civil wars came to their close.
The renaming was tied to a wider calendrical event. After Julius Caesar's assassination, the priests implementing the new calendar had misunderstood their instructions and, through inclusive counting, inserted a leap day every three years instead of every four. Augustus corrected this error, and in 8 BCE, in connection with the edict of correction, the Senate renamed Sextilis; the text of the decree even quoted verbatim the dedicatory inscription of the obelisk that served Augustus's monumental solar meridian in Rome.[5](https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108635806.004)
## Length of the month
Under the early [Roman calendar](https://www.edgepedia.org/roman-calendar) attributed to [Numa Pompilius](https://www.edgepedia.org/numa-pompilius), Sextilis had 29 days.[1](https://www.timeanddate.com/calendar/months/august.html) When Julius Caesar's reformed [Julian calendar](https://www.edgepedia.org/julian-calendar) took effect in 45 BCE, ten days were distributed across the year, and January, Sextilis, and December were each extended by two days, from 29 to 31 days, the lengths still used today.[6](https://www.timeanddate.com/calendar/julian-calendar.html) The popular story that Augustus stole a day from February to make his month equal to July does not appear in the ancient sources; the lengthening belongs to Caesar's reform itself.[6](https://www.timeanddate.com/calendar/julian-calendar.html)
The renaming of months in honor of rulers did not stop with August. The emperor Domitian is reported to have renamed September and October as [Germanicus](https://www.edgepedia.org/germanicus) and Domitianus in his own honor, though these names did not survive.[11](https://www.geschichte-cms.uni-osnabrueck.de/abteilungen/alte_geschichte/neues_aus_der_alten_geschichte/archiv_der_themen_des_monats.html) After Augustus's death, [Suetonius](https://www.edgepedia.org/suetonius) records, one proposal would have transferred the name of August to September, because Augustus was born in the latter month but died in the former.[12](https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Suetonius/12Caesars/Augustus%2A.html)
## August in the year
Astronomically, August falls between the June solstice and the [September equinox](https://www.edgepedia.org/september-equinox), and meteorological summer in the [Northern Hemisphere](https://www.edgepedia.org/northern-hemisphere) is defined as June, July, and August.[7](https://www.noaa.gov/jetstream/global) • [3](https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/news/meteorological-versus-astronomical-seasons) The month's full moon is traditionally called the Sturgeon Moon, and also the Grain Moon, Fruit Moon, or Barley Moon in reference to the Northern Hemisphere harvest.[1](https://www.timeanddate.com/calendar/months/august.html) By tradition, the birthstones of August are peridot and onyx, and its birth flower the gladiolus or poppy.[1](https://www.timeanddate.com/calendar/months/august.html)
## References
1. [August: Eighth Month of the Year, timeanddate.com](https://www.timeanddate.com/calendar/months/august.html)
2. [August - Etymology, Origin & Meaning, Etymonline](https://www.etymonline.com/word/august)
3. [Meteorological Versus Astronomical Seasons, NOAA NCEI](https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/news/meteorological-versus-astronomical-seasons)
4. [August, 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica, Wikisource](https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/1911_Encyclop%C3%A6dia_Britannica/August)
5. [The Julian Calendar and the Solar Meridian of Augustus, in The Cultural History of Augustan Rome, Cambridge University Press](https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108635806.004)
6. [Julian Calendar, timeanddate.com](https://www.timeanddate.com/calendar/julian-calendar.html)
7. [Global Weather, NOAA JetStream](https://www.noaa.gov/jetstream/global)
8. [Roman Calendar, Encyclopaedia Romana (Penelope, University of Chicago)](https://penelope.uchicago.edu/encyclopaedia_romana/calendar/romancalendar.html)
9. [Reckoning of time, Dickinson College Commentaries](https://dcc.dickinson.edu/grammar/latin/reckoning-time)
10. [Translation Thursday: Augustus et al. on Augustus, Cratylus](https://cratylusblog.wordpress.com/2017/09/01/translation-thursday-augustus-et-al-on-augustus/)
11. [Themen des Monats, Universität Osnabrück, Alte Geschichte](https://www.geschichte-cms.uni-osnabrueck.de/abteilungen/alte_geschichte/neues_aus_der_alten_geschichte/archiv_der_themen_des_monats.html)
12. [Suetonius, Life of Augustus, LacusCurtius](https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Suetonius/12Caesars/Augustus%2A.html)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Physical world and mathematics › Measurement and time › Calendars › Calendar structure: months, days, and eras › Named months of calendars*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Sep 30, 2026; Oct 15, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026 · Last review: Oct 15, 2026*
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License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license