Now is the month of maying, and already I'm struck by the blossom on the trees and the bluebells beginning to carpet. So, start gathering flowers and dancing around those maypoles!
May
The name of the month comes from the Greek and Roman goddess Maia, mother of Hermes. Her name derived from the Greek μαια (maia) "good mother" which was used as a respectful term for married women, and also could mean "midwife" or "nurse." The Greeks often identified her with the goddess Gaia "earth", giving us the sense of 'Mother Earth', while the Romans identified her with the Bona Dea "Good Goddess" and Fauna.
May has been used as an independent name in Britain since the late 19th century. It had developed in the previous century as a pet-form of Mary or Margaret, and was popularised by Princess Mary of Teck (later Queen Mary) who was known as "May". In the Middle Ages, May was a pet-form of Mayhew, a form of Matthew.
May has many continental translations, including: Mai (French, Welsh), Maio (Portuguese), Maggio (Italian), Mayo (Spanish), Mayis (Turkish) and Beltain (Irish).
The Fire of May Day
The Anglo-Saxons called this month Þrimilki-mónaþ, "Three Milkings Month," because it was a time of year when cattle could be milked three times a day. This was partly because May is a time when grass grows particularly vigorously, and so livestock were only given access to small areas at a time. This practice relates to the Old Germanic name for May, Wonne-mond, which meant "Grazing Month."
This time of fertility was celebrated each year with May Day -- a festival still observed today -- when many people held fêtes featuring maypoles, May Queens and morris dancing. The word "maying" literally means "to take part in May Day festivities." The practice is an ancient one that hails back to to the ancient Celtic festival of Beltane. This was a major Pagan festival, symbolising the beginning of summer, in which many fires were lit to imitate the growing sun. The name Beltane means "bright fire", and it is thought cattle was driven through the fires to be purified.
There are many names that have a fiery meaning, including Aidan, Azar, Fiametta, Fintan, and Hestia (see Advent Day 22 for many more examples).
Flowers
As the saying goes, "April showers bring May flowers," which is why May is often seen as the "month of flowers". In fact, the old Frisian name for the month, Blommemoanne, directly translates as "flower month". To the Romans, May was sacred not only to Maia, but also Flora, the goddess of flowers. In her honour, a five day festival, known as Floralia, was held from April 28th to May 3rd. When the Romans came to Britain, many of the rituals of Floralia became added to those of Beltane. This culminated in the May Day practices of decorating villages with flower garlands, dancing around maypoles, washing faces in early morning dew, and morris dancing.
The name Flora derives from the latin flos "flower". Other "flower" names include Anthea, Anthousa, Calanthe, Diantha, Melantha (Greek), Anfisa (Russian), Ayaka (Japanese), Bláthnat (Irish), Blaanid (Manx), Blejan (Cornish), Blodwen (Welsh), Bluma (Yiddish), Fflur (Welsh), Fiorella (Italian), Fleur (Franch), Floor (Dutch), Florinda (Spanish), Kukka (Finnish), Kveta (Czech), Leilani (Hawaiian), Lule (Albanian), Mali (Tai), Pushpa (Sanskrit), Rayén (Mapudungun) and Zahrah (Arabic).
And, being the month of flowers, any flower name would be appropriate for this time of year.
Queens of Green
One of the key traditions associated with May Day is the crowning of a May Queen to reign over the festivities. Traditionally, a local girl is chosen each year to represent the Queen of May, or, more literally, the goddess Flora. She is dressed in a white dress, crowned with a wreath of flowers and sits in a garlanded chair. We have many names that contain the term "queen", such as Malika (Arabic), Malka, Milka (Hebrew), Morrigan (Irish), Rani (Sanskrit), Regina (Latin), Reina (Spanish), Reine (French), Rhiannon (Welsh) and Thema (Akan).
Originally, the companion of the May Queen was the May King. In the Middle Ages he was often associated with Robin Hood, where we find games dedicated to him. Other names include Green May or Jack-in-the-Green. The association with the colour is a strong one, as people traditionally wore green clothing, decorated with foliage, on May Day. "Green" names include Chloe, Glassan, Midori and Blerta (see Green Names for many more examples).
Symbols
Emerald is considered the birthstone of May. Not only is it appropriately green in colour, it is also thought to represent faithfulness. The cognate Esmeralda is s Spanish name for girls, while the form Emeraud is sometimes found used in France.
Lily of the Valley and the Hawthorn are the flower symbols of May.
In Victorian floriography Lily of the Valley symbolises "return of happiness". One baby, born in 1905, was given the names Lily of the Valley but for those a little less adventurous, Lily has many variants: Lilian, Lilia, Ljerka, and Lys. The Finnish name Kielo more literally translates as "lily of the valley."
The Hawthorn is often called the May Tree, because it blossoms in this month. It was also traditionally used to make maypoles, and was decorated with ribbons and other strips bright fabric. Hawthorn has been found as a first name in Britain for boys, and occasionally girls, since at least the 18th century. This can mostly be attributed to its use as a surname. Other names for the plant include maythorn, quickthorn, whitethorn and mayblossom. Several late Victorian girls, often born in May, were given the name Mayblossom or May Blossom.
Taurus, the bull, is the star sign that runs from April 21 to May 21. It represent the Cretan bull of Greek mythology, but we also find the Greek Tauros used as an epithet for Dionysos, and alternate name for Talos.
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 May around the world.
Note: As you may imagine, there are hundreds of names associated for each day around the world. Where there are common names, I have chosen the most recognisable spelling for English-speakers.
1 = Bertha, Jeremy, Joseph, Tamara, Walburga
2 = Athanasius, Boris, Maia, Sigmund, Zoe
3 = Alexander, Jacob / James, Philip, Viola
4 = Florian, Guido, Mona, Monica, Rosa, Rosalie, Sylvain
5 = Angelo, Gotthard, Irene, Penelope, Peregrine
6 = Benedicta, Georgi, Judith, Prudence, Valerian
7 = Flavia, Giselle / Gisela, Helmi, Silke
8 = Didier, Ida, Michael, Stanislaus
9 = Austeja, Casper, Christopher, Gregory, Timothy
10 = Aina, Anthony, Gordian, Job, Solange
11 = Estelle / Stella, Ludivine, Mamertus
12 = Achilleus, Charlotta, Flavia Domitilla, Lotta, Nereus
13 = Emma, Imelda, Linn, Robert, Roland
14 = Christian, Corona, Gemma, Matthias, Victor
15 = Hallvard, Isidore, Rupert, Sophia, Sophie
16 = Brendan, Esther, Sara, John, Ronald, Theobald
17 = Ambrose, Bruno, Pascal, Ruben
18 = Alexandra, Eric, Felix, Rosalia, Rose
19 = Celestin, Emilia, Emma, Ivo, Yvonne
20 = Bernardin, Elfrida, Karolina, Lilian / Lilja
21 = Constantine, Ellen, Helena, Herman
22 = Emile, Hemming / Henning, Julia, Rita
23 = Desiderius, Désirée, Leontine, Lydia, Michael, Renate
24 = Esther, Iris, Ivan, Mary, Susanna
25 = Bede, Gregory, Magdalena, Miriam, Urban
26 = Edward, Marianna, Philip, Wilhelmina
27 = Augustine, Carolina, Julius, Lucian, Randolph
28 = Alma, Germain, Hubert, Roman, William
29 = Magdalena, Maximin, Maximilian, Theodosia
30 = Felix, Ferdinand, Joan/na, Lorraine, Vera
31 = Angela, Helga, Petronilla, Petra
