Most historians believe that there are seven days of the week because people in ancient times named them after the celestial bodies in the air – and at the time, they only knew about seven, including the moon and sun. Ancient folks listed the celestial bodies by order of how quickly they moved. These planets were given the names of Roman gods so naturally, the days were named after them as well. The names were then changed to be named after Norse or Anglo-Saxon gods, which is how the present names of the days of the week came about.

Sunday was considered the very first day of the week. Its original name was derived from the Greek term hemera heliou, or “day of the sun,” in tribute to Helios, the sun god. For the Romans, the day was renamed dies solis after Sol, the Roman sun god. In Latin, it means “sun’s day.” Afterwards, it was called Dominica, or Day of God. In other languages that have Latin roots, this can be seen clearly. In French, Sunday is called dimanche. In German, Sonntag sounds more like the original while Zondag is the Dutch equivalent, and both literally translate to “sun day.”

Monday is the second day, which was the sacred day of the goddess of the moon, Selene, for the Greeks and later, the goddess Luna for the Romans. The name went from hemera selenes in Greek to monandeag, which translates to “moon’s day,” in Anglo-Saxon. In German, Monday is Montag, meaning “moon day.” In French, it’s lundi, and in Dutch, it’s maandag.

Tuesday’s name came from the Greek god of war, Ares. It was called hemera Areos. In Rome, it was dies Martis, which is derived from the Roman god of war, Mars. The English word for Tuesday actually comes from the Anglo-Saxon word for their god of war, Tyr. It started out as tiwesdaeg, or “Tiw’s Day,” and evolved to Tuesday after that. In French, it’s now mardi. In Dutch, it’s tirsdag and in German, it’s called Dienstag, or “assembly day.”

Wednesday was named after the Greek god Hermes so it was known as hemera Hermu. The Romans called it dies Mercurri after their messenger god, Mercury. The Anglo-Saxons named the day wodnesdæg for their god of the hunt, Woden, who was based on the Norse god, Odin. Thus “Woden’s Day” became Wednesday. In French, Wednesday is mercredi, in Dutch, it’s woensdag, and in German, it’s Mittwoch.

Thursday, or hemera Dios, was Zeus’ Day. The Romans named it dies Jovis, or “Jove’s Day,” as Jove was another name for Jupiter. Jupiter’s counterpart in Norse mythology was Thor, so thorsdrag, or “Thor’s Day,” eventually became Thursday owing to the Anglo-Saxon equivalent of thursdæg, or “Thunder’s Day.” In French, Thursday is jeudi, in German, it’s known as Donnerstag, and in Dutch, it is donderdag.

Friday was named hemerea Aphrodites after the Greek love goddess Aphrodite, and then dies Veneris after the Roman goddess Venus. In German and Norse mythology the goddesses Frig and Freya were associated with love so they called it frije-dagaz, or “Freya’s Day.” That then became fridai in Middle English and Friday today. In French, it’s called vendredi and, in Dutch, Friday is vrijdag, while in German, it’s Freitag.

Saturday was called hemera Khronu by the Greeks for Zeus’ father Kronos. The Romans named if after Jupiter’s father, Saturn, and called it dies Saturni. The Anglo-Saxon term for the day was sæterdæg or “Saturn’s Day” which then became saterday in Middle English. It’s now called samedi in French, Samstag in German and, zaterdag in Dutch.

It’s interesting to see just how far language has evolved and how intertwined it is. You could print out charts using printer ink and you still wouldn’t be able to see all the little connections that exist in the origins of the days of the week.

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