Full Moon Names 2023: Meaning, Origin

Publish date: 2024-06-15

There are typically 12 full moons each year, including three or four supermoons. But while common, full moons have a long history of significance for many people and cultures.

"Astronomical events such as this mark the passage of time and provide a steady rhythm to our lives," Patrick Hartigan, a professor of physics and astronomy at Rice University, told Insider via email.

"These cycles are independent of human activities and remind us that we are part of this world but that we do not control everything," he said.

The next full moon will be a harvest moon, rising on September 29.

September: harvest moon, "corn moon," "barley moon"

Amish people harvest corn in Maryland. Mark Wilson/Getty Images

Over the millennia, September's full moon has signified to farmers that it's time to finish harvesting corn and other crops.

A harvest moon sometimes occurs in October (the moon doesn't follow the Gregorian calendar), but it's always the full moon closest to the autumnal equinox.

Every few years, the harvest moon falls in October instead of September.

The harvest moon rises with the setting sun. There's an optical illusion that the moon — any moon — looks larger than usual when it's near the horizon.

So folks who see the full moon rise from the horizon around sunset may think it looks larger than normal. These bright moonlit nights give farmers a little extra time to harvest their crops.

This year's harvest moon will reach its peak at 5:58 a.m. ET on September 29, according to The Old Farmer's Almanac.

The next harvest moon: September 29, 2023

Here are some of the many names assigned to full moons throughout the year.

Tourists take pictures as a full moon rises in Moscow, Russia. Shamil Zhumatov/Reuters

Across North America and Europe, people have used full moons to track months and seasons for thousands of years, naming each one based on the seasonal changes it indicates.

Different languages and cultures characterized their moons differently, sometimes based on agricultural cycles, sometimes on natural phenomena.

The names assigned to full moons are often attributed to the native Algonquian peoples, who share a family of languages and originate from the area that today ranges from New England as far west as Lake Superior.

Colonial settlers across North America adopted their own version of the indigenous names, according to The Old Farmer's Almanac.

October: "hunter's moon," "blood moon," "dying grass moon," "travel moon"

A man shoots at pheasants flying overhead during a pheasant hunt in Stokenchurch, England. Eddie Keog/REUTERS

These names refer to the time of year when leaves have fallen, the deer are fat, and animals are coming into harvested fields to eat what's left. Historically, hunters took advantage of October to store meat for the winter.

Some associate this month's blood moon or "sanguine moon" with hunting, and it's different from a blood moon caused by a lunar eclipse. In the latter case, the moon appears to have a reddish hue.

The next hunter's moon: October 28, 2023

November: "beaver moon," "frosty moon"

November's full moon is named for the industrious beaver. Jeff R Clow / Getty Images

Beavers prepare for winter in November, as do trappers. This moon signaled the time to catch beavers and secure a supply of warm furs before the swamps froze.

The next beaver moon: November 27, 2023

December: "cold moon," "long night's moon"

The moon sets behind a mountain at sunrise in Lake Louise, Alberta in December. Andy ClarkREUTERS

December has the longest, darkest nights of the year, and the moon sits above the horizon longer than usual. Some Europeans and their descendants in North America also called the December full moon the "moon before Yule."

The next cold moon: December 26, 2023

January: "wolf moon," "old moon," "ice moon"

Since they're known for their nighttime howls, it's not surprising there's a full moon named for wolves. John Moore/Getty Images

In mid-winter, as the story goes, hungry wolves would gather outside villages in North America and medieval Europe and howl into the night. This full moon was sometimes also called the "moon after Yule."

The next one: January 25, 2024

February: "snow moon," "hunger moon"

The full February snow moon rises above the Hudson River and the town of Irvington, New York. Mike Segar/REUTERS

In North America, February marks the depths of winter, when snow blankets the ground and fresh food was traditionally harder to come by. Because it's a shorter month, some February's don't have a full moon at all.

The next snow moon: February 24, 2024

March: "worm moon," "sap moon," "crow moon"

Former Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker urges sap to come out of a maple tree during an event at Hollis Hill Farm in Fitchburg, Massachusetts. REUTERS/Brian Snyder

As spring approaches, earthworms emerge from the ground, maple trees are ripe for tapping, and migratory birds return as winter ends.

According to the Almanac, that's led Ojibwe people to call this the "sugar moon," Algonquin or Cree to call it the "eagle moon" or "goose moon," and northern Ojibwe to call it the "crow comes back moon."

European settlers with religious calendars called this the "Lenten moon."

According to NASA, "other names are the 'chaste moon' or the 'death moon,' related to the fasting of Lent and traditions from when the start of spring was the end of the old year and start of the new."

The next worm moon: March 25, 2024

April: "pink moon," "sprouting grass moon," "egg moon," "fish moon"

Wildflowers along the California coastline in Big Sur at sunset. kanonsky/Getty Images

The pink moon is named for the pink phlox flowers that bloom in spring. The other names refer to additional staples of the changing season: growing grass, birds filling nests with eggs, and fish that swim upstream to spawn.

The next pink moon: April 23, 2024

May: "flower moon," "planting moon"

As spring emerges, so does May's flower moon. REUTERS/Mike Blake

In May, flowers burst fully into bloom, and it becomes time to sow crops again. Flower moon is an Algonquin name, according to the Almanac.

In the Middle Ages, an English name for the May full moon was the "milk moon," according to NASA.

The next flower moon: May 23, 2024

June: "strawberry moon," "rose moon," "hot moon"

A family picks strawberries at the Legare Farm Stand in Calais, Vermont. AP Photo/Toby Talbot

Strawberries ripen for picking in June. Europeans dubbed this the rose moon, and other cultures called it the hot moon because it harkens summer heat ahead.

"Mead" or "honey moon" are other European names for this full moon. The term "honeymoon" dates back at least to the 1500s and originally meant a sweet period of time lasting around a month.

The next strawberry moon: June 21, 2024

July: "buck moon," "thunder moon," "hay moon"

Young stag deer clash antlers during the annual rut in Richmond Park in west London, Britain. REUTERS/Toby Melville

Deer grow new, velvety antlers in July, and thunderstorms rage aplenty in some parts of North America. For Anglo-Saxons, July was all about hay.

Sockeye fish return to spawn in Alaska in June and July, so it makes sense the Tlingit people would call this month's moon the "salmon moon."

The buck moon: July 21, 2024

August: "sturgeon moon," "red moon"

Researcher Matt Balazik gets ready to toss a 70-pound Atlantic sturgeon into the James River near Charles City, Virginia. AP Photo/Steve Helber

Tribes near the Great Lakes and Lake Champlain knew August was the best time to catch sturgeon, an enormous, hearty fish. Some people also think the moon appears more reddish in color this month because of the heat.

The next sturgeon moon: August 19, 2024

Some full moons are called supermoons or micromoons. The contemporary terms refer to how large and small the moon looks at various points in its elliptical orbit.

Supermoons can appear a bit larger and brighter than a typical full moon. REUTERS/Paul Hanna

Supermoons occur when the moon is at perigee — the closest point to Earth. They can cause stronger ocean tides and weather events.

Micromoons are the opposite, occurring at apogee — when the moon is furthest from Earth. They can reduce the variation in spring tides by 2 inches. Micromoons appear about 14% smaller than supermoons, and sometimes seem dimmer, since the area illuminated by the sun appears 30% smaller, according to TimeandDate.com.

Since the International Astronomical Union has not officially defined supermoons or micromoons, astronomers disagree on which full moons get the designation.

The next full supermoon: August 19, 2024

The next full micromoon: February 24, 2024

Blue moons are like special bonuses. They occur every two or three years, when a month or season has one extra full moon.

A full moon isn't the best time to see stars, even at a place as dark as Yellowstone National Park. Andrew Lichtenstein/Corbis via Getty Images

When an astronomical season (the time between solstice and equinox) has four full moons instead of the normal three, the third one is a seasonal blue moon.

When a calendar month has two full moons, the second one is a monthly blue moon. That happens because the lunar month is only 29 days long, while the Gregorian calendar month is usually 30 or 31 days long.

The moon doesn't actually appear blue on these occasions. That would only happen if dust or smoke particles of a particular size cloud the atmosphere, say after a forest fire, volcanic eruption, or dust storm.

The next seasonal blue moon: August 19, 2024

The next monthly blue moon: August 19, 2024

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