- Category
- Calendar and language
- Reading time
- 5 min.
- Sources
- Selection from the EKGT month-name table; historical variation
Words and examples
Showing: 12
Month names
January — Sausis
sausinis, didysis ragutis, barsukinis.
Source · Table 1, row «Sausis».
#Month names
February — Vasaris
mažas ragutis, pridėtinis, veršinis.
Source · Table 1, row «Vasaris».
#Month names
March — Kovas
kovinis, morčius, karvelinis.
Source · Table 1, row «Kovas».
#Month names
April — Balandis
balandinis, sultekis, žiedų mėnuo.
Source · Table 1, row «Balandis».
#Month names
May — Gegužė
gegužinis, žiedis, sėtinis.
Source · Table 1, row «Gegužė».
#Month names
June — Birželis
berželis, jaunius, pūdymo mėnuo.
Source · Table 1, row «Birželis».
#Month names
July — Liepa
liepinis, liepžiedis, šienpjūtis.
Source · Table 1, row «Liepa».
#Month names
August — Rugpjūtis
pjūtis, grikinis, šilinis.
Source · Table 1, row «Rugpjūtis».
#Month names
September — Rugsėjis
rugis, viržių, grybaulia.
Source · Table 1, row «Rugsėjis».
#Month names
October — Spalis
spalinis, bobvarnis, lapkristys.
Source · Table 1, row «Spalis».
#Month names
November — Lapkritis
vėlių, balaninis, linabrukis.
Source · Table 1, row «Lapkritis».
#Month names
December — Gruodis
gruodinis, vilkinis, kalėdų.
Source · Table 1, row «Gruodis».
#No entries match this search.
Using the reference
Search for a modern month or a historical Lithuanian name. Each entry selects three variants from the table published by Lithuania’s Council for the Protection of Ethnic Culture (EKGT). The link and row locator show exactly where to check them. The Lithuanian spellings are retained so that they remain searchable.
A modern month is an organising device here. It does not mean that every listed name always covered precisely those calendar dates. Finding a word and dating an old document are different tasks.
Names and boundaries could shift
EKGT emphasises that historical month names did not always have fixed boundaries. When a word occurs in a tale, song or old notebook, read it alongside the place, period and surrounding passage. The name alone cannot reliably establish a modern date.
Allow for grammatical endings when searching Lithuanian material. A month in a sentence may appear in the genitive rather than in its dictionary form. When transcribing a source, retain the original wording and add your interpretation separately.
Reading the names as cultural vocabulary
Compare the names with seasonal work, plants and birds. A useful learning exercise is to record a word, find its source and formulate a question about its meaning. A resemblance between words is a starting point, not proof of an etymology.
The table marks šilinis under August as a Dzūkija variant, while bobvarnis under October is associated with people of Kupiškis. Preserve these qualifications when making an educational calendar: they identify local usage rather than a rule for all Lithuania.
An old source and a newly designed calendar
A modern poster may choose one attractive historical name for each month. That is an editorial choice. Label the selection and its source so that readers do not mistake it for the sole ancient system.
This guide uses EKGT’s published compilation; it does not claim that we independently checked the earliest archival occurrence of every word. It is an introduction. Research into a particular dialect or historical date needs the fuller original document.
