Month

According to the modern-day Gregorian calendar, there are 12 months in a year. Each month may have 30 or 31 days, except for the month of February which has 28 or 29 days, depending on a year being a leap year. To memorize the months in a year, there's a rhyme which says "Thirty days has September, April, June, and November; All the rest have thirty-one, Excepting February alone; And that has twenty-eight days clear; And twenty-nine in each leap year." Stay tuned to learn more about the months in a year!

There are 12 months in a year and each month has different names. We can learn the names of all the months with the help of a calendar.

A month is a unit of time, used in calendars, and is approximately a natural period related to the motion of the Moon. The months of the year and the Moon are like blood relatives. The months were originally based on the movement of the moon. The following figure shows the list of all the 12 months in a year.

Out of the 12 months in a calendar, the year starts with the month of January and ends with the month of December. 

The ancient Romans Started with a 10-month calendar. The months in the original Roman calendar were Martius, Aprilis, Maius, Junius, Quintilis, Sextilis, September, October, November, and December.  This calendar left 60 or so days unaccounted for. The months Januarius and Februarius were later added to the end of the year to account for the 60 spare days. In 46 B.C., Julius Caesar changed the calendar, the year was divided into 12 months having 30 or 31 days, except Februarius, which was added at the end with 28 or 29 days.

Months with 31 Days

The months which have 31 days are, January, March, May, July, August, October and December.

Months with 30 days

The months which have 30 days are April, June, September, and November.

It is very important to remember the number of days in a month. We should keep in mind that we have months with 31 days, months with 30 days, and a month which has 28 or 29 days. Here is a method which helps us remember these months along with the number of days that they have.

Knuckle method

The knuckle method is an easy trick that helps us to remember the number of days in a month. Let us see how it works.

The months that are on the knuckle represent 31 days, whereas, the depression between the knuckles represents the months which have 30 days. It should be noted that the two knuckles where your hands meet denote July and August that have 31 days. We start with January on the knuckle, so February comes in the depression, March comes on the knuckle and April comes in the depression , and so on. The last knuckle isn't used. Now, let's check, March is on the knuckle, so it has 31 days. But April is not on the knuckle, so it has only 30 days.

A normal year has 365 days. In a normal year, the Earth rotates about 365.242375 times but we count only 365 times. A leap year has 366 days. So every 4th year we add an extra day (the 29th of February), which makes up the neglected 0.25 day for these 4 years. Every 4th year, February has 29 days and that year is called a leap year.

Tips to Remember

• Learn the calendar rhyme for memorizing the number of days in each month.
• Count the knuckles as 31 days.
• Count the depression between the knuckles as 30 days.
• January is the first month of the year.
• December is the last month of the year. 
• February has 28 days or 29 days.
• Every year has 12 months.
• A normal year has 365 days.
• A leap year has 366 days.

Topics Related to Month

• Reading a Calendar
• How many Weeks in a Month
• Reading and Representing Time
• Add time
• Weeks to Months Calculator

FAQs on Month

What are the 12 Months in Order?

The 12 months, in order, are January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November, December.

Which is the Last Month of the Year?

December is the twelfth and last month of the year and has 31 days.

How Many Days are in a Month?

A year is divided into 12 months in the modern-day.

• The months are either 28, 29, 30, or 31 days long.
• The months which have 31 days are January, March, May, July, August, October, and December.
• The months which have 30 days are April, June, September, November.
• The month that has 28 or 29 days in February.

How Many Months are There in a Year?

There are 12 months in a year. They can be listed as January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November, December.

What is the First Month of the Year?

January is the first month of the year and has 31 days.

What is the Shortest Month of the Year?

February is the shortest month of the year as it has 28 days in a normal year and 29 days in a leap year.

What Months Do Not Have 30 Days?

The months which do not have 30 days are, January, February, March, May, July, August, October, and December.