The coming of March signals the beginnings of Spring and, thankfully, lighter and longer days.
March
The name of the month comes from the Roman name Martius, derived directly from Mars the god of war and victory.
March has many continental translations, including: Marec (Slovenian), Maret (Indonesian), Martios (Greek), and Marzo (Spanish).
Victory
The Anglo-Saxons called March Hrêðmonað / Hrethmonath. According to Bede, the month was named for the goddess Hrêðe / Hretha, to whom they sacrificed at this time of year. Bede used the Latinised form of the name: Rheda. Very little is known about this goddess, but it has been suggested that her name is related to the Old English word hréþ "glory, victory." This makes an interesting parallel with Mars, and it is possible that she was a goddess of war.
Several names contain "victorious" elements, with the Latin Victoria the most prevalent of these choices. Similarly, the Ancient Greek nike can be found in numerous names such as Eunice, Nicholas, Nicodemus, and Veronica, to name just a few. Sanskrit provides the element jaya from which derives Jaidev, Jayashri, Sanjit, Sujay and Vijaya. While the Germanic sigu and Norse sigr can be found in names such as Siegfried, Sigmund, Signy, Sigrid and Sigurd.
Spring
Charlemagne called March Lenzinmanoth "Spring Month" and, indeed, March is the first month of Spring across the countries in the North Temperate Zone. Lenz itself is used as a poetic name for Spring and can also be found as a masculine name. Aviv, and Aviva, (Hebrew), Gwaynten (Cornish), Pinar (Turkish), Pranvera (Albanian), Primavera (Spanish) and Rabi or Rabia (Arabic) are all "Spring" names in use.
Earth
In Finland, March is called Maaliskuu, the month of bare earth. It is said that this is due to the ice melting during this time, revealing the bared earth below. The Ancient Greek Gaia "earth" was the great mother earth in Greek mythology. Terra was her Latin equivalent. Avani in Sanskrit provides another intriguing "earth" option.
Symbols
Aquamarine is the birthstone for March, given its name (from the Latin aqua "water" and marinus "sea") as it resembled the colours and hues of the sea. The Daffodil is March's birth flower, and is alternatively called Jonquil or Narcissus. Narcissa is found as a feminine form.
Pisces, the fish, is the astrological sign that runs from February 20 - March 19. The constellation is identified with Aphrodite and Eros, who were said to have once hidden from the monster Typhon in the forms of fish.
Name Days
Many different countries have names associated with days of the year; most often they are the feast days of saints. Below are some of the names associated with the days in March around the world.
1 = Albin, Antonina, David, Eudocia / Evdokia, Roger
2 = Anežka / Agnes, Chad, Charles / Karl, Virva
3 = Aelred, Camilla, Friedrich, Leif, Kunegunda / Kinga, Marin
4 = Ada, Adrian, Ari, Casimir, Lucius, Humbert
5 = Laila, Ciaran / Kieran, Gerda, Olivia, Theophilus, Virgil
6 = Colette, Cyril, Fridolin, Jordan, Rosa
7 = Felicity, Paul, Perpetua, Thomas
8 = Beata, John, Julian, Philemon
9 = Catherine, Dominic, Frances / Francesca, Gregory
10 = Ada / Edel, Aurora, Emil / Emilian, Vivien
11 = Angela, Constantine, Edwin, Rosina, Tala / Tale
12 = Beatrix, Gregory / Reko, Marina, Maximilian, Serafina
13 = Ernest, Euphrasia, Gerald, Leander, Paulina, Rodrigo
14 = Benedict, Eva, Matilda
15 = Christopher, Klemens, Longinus, Louise, Zachary / Zacharias
16 = Edward, Finian, Henrika / Henrietta, Herbert, Hilary
17 = Alexis, Gertrude, Karina, Patrick
18 = Alexander, Anselm, Edward, Salvator
19 = Chrysanthos, Joseph, Josephine
20 = Claudia / Klaudia, Cuthbert, Joachim, Wulfram
21 = Axel, Benedict, Clemence, Serapion
22 = Basil, Catherine, Lea, Paul
23 = Lydia, Otto, Rebecca, Sophia
24 = Catherine / Karine, Gabriel, Raphael, Simon
25 = Aija, Annunziata, Blago, Lucia, Maria
26 = Emanuel, Felix, Larissa, Maximus, Theodore
27 = Rudolf, Rupert, Saul
28 = Armas, Guntram, Johanna
29 = Berthold, Eustasius, Jonas, Mark
30 = Amadeus, Quirinus, Regulus, Zosimus
31 = Balbina, Benjamin, Cornelia, Sabina
