May: Origin of and Interesting Facts About the Month

Bona Dea the Goddess of ChastitySir Thomas Malory called it the "lusty moneth of May." Since we have officially entered the Days of May, I thought it would be fun to cover some facts about the fifth month (which was the third month on the Roman calendar).

Some find it strange that the romantic time of May has always been considered unlucky for marriage. The Romans objected to it for the understandable reason that it contained the feast in honor of Bona Dea who was the goddess of chastity. Also, the festival of the unhappy dead fell in the month of May.

In Latin, the name May is Maius and is believed by many to come from Maia, who was the mother of the god Hermes. The native English had a less romantic, but much more practical name for the month. They called it Thrimilce because, in the long, spring days, the cows could be milked three times between sunrise and evening.

The name May was very popular in the nineteenth century and early twentieth century, but it has lost its status is recent years. It ranked highest at number 57 on the list of most popular girls’ names in 1883, but in 1983, it only appeared at number 963. May has not appeared in the top 1000 names in the United States since 1983. It is more popular in countries such as Norway, where May reached as high as 172 in 1997. May is a very popular surname. It is listed as number 239 on the list of most common surnames in the United States. Most people with the surname May are to be found in Texas, California, Florida and Ohio.  The first people with the surname May arrived in the United States in the seventeenth century, and perhaps even arrived via the Mayflower.

Mae West