Each month's full moon has a popular name: Wolf Moon in January, Snow Moon in February, then Worm, Pink, Flower, Strawberry, Buck, Sturgeon, Harvest (or Corn), Hunter's, Beaver and Cold Moon. The list in common use today is the one printed by The Old Farmer's Almanac. The names are seasonal labels from North American tradition, not astronomical terms.
Full moon names by month, with 2027 dates
The explanations below follow The Old Farmer's Almanac. The dates are for 2027 in US Eastern Time; in the UK three of them fall a calendar day later, as shown in our full moon calendar for 2027.
| Month | Name | What the name refers to | Full moon in 2027 (ET) |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | Wolf Moon | Wolves heard howling in midwinter | January 22, 7:17 a.m. |
| February | Snow Moon | The heavy snowfall of the month | February 20, 6:23 p.m. |
| March | Worm Moon | Earthworms, or insect larvae, appearing as the ground thaws | March 22, 6:44 a.m. |
| April | Pink Moon | Moss pink, an early spring wildflower | April 20, 6:27 p.m. |
| May | Flower Moon | Flowers in bloom everywhere | May 20, 6:59 a.m. |
| June | Strawberry Moon | Wild strawberries ready to pick | June 18, 8:44 p.m. |
| July | Buck Moon | Male deer with antlers in full growth | July 18, 11:45 a.m. |
| August | Sturgeon Moon | Sturgeon, once plentiful in the Great Lakes | August 17, 3:29 a.m. |
| September | Harvest Moon or Corn Moon | The grain harvest; corn ready to gather | September 15, 7:03 p.m. |
| October | Hunter's Moon | Game fattened for winter, the season for hunting | October 15, 9:47 a.m. |
| November | Beaver Moon | Beavers settled in their lodges for winter | November 13, 10:26 p.m. |
| December | Cold Moon | Winter cold taking hold | December 13, 11:09 a.m. |
Where do the full moon names come from?
The Almanac describes its names as coming from Native American, Colonial American and other traditional North American sources. It adds several cautions of its own. The names varied from one people and region to another. Many are English renderings of words from Native languages, and some are no longer in use. A name was traditionally applied to the whole lunar month, not just to the night of the full moon.
Several entries on the list go back to a single written record: the travel account of Captain Jonathan Carver, who journeyed through the Great Lakes region in the 1760s. The Almanac cites him for the Snow, Worm, Buck, Sturgeon, Corn and Beaver Moons. Others are tied to particular peoples. Flower Moon is credited to the Algonquin and Ojibwe, Strawberry Moon to the Algonquin, Ojibwe, Dakota and Lakota, and Cold Moon to the Mohawk.
Not every name is Native American in origin. The Almanac itself says that Wolf Moon is not a traditional Native American name and is thought to have come from England with European settlers.
So this is one publication's list, and not a set of ancient names shared by everyone. The Royal Observatory in Greenwich uses the same twelve in its yearly calendar and calls them simply "popular" names that Colonial Americans adopted and that later passed into everyday use.
What does each full moon name mean?
A few of the names are less obvious than they look.
- Worm Moon. The usual explanation is earthworms coming to the surface in spring. Carver wrote something different: that the name refers to larvae emerging from the bark of trees and other winter hiding places.
- Pink Moon. The Moon is not pink. The name comes from moss pink, or wild ground phlox (Phlox subulata), one of the first wildflowers of spring in eastern North America.
- Snow Moon. Carver recorded the reason as given to him: more snow commonly falls in this month than in any other of the winter.
- Buck Moon. A buck's antlers are shed and regrown every year, and by July they are in full growth.
- Sturgeon Moon. Lake sturgeon were once abundant in the Great Lakes and Lake Champlain in late summer and were an important food.
- Beaver Moon. By November beavers have finished preparing for winter and retreat into their lodges.
How are the Harvest Moon and Hunter's Moon decided?
The Harvest Moon is the one name tied to the sky and not to a month. It is the full moon closest to the September equinox. In most years that is the September full moon. About one year in three the October full moon is closer, and it becomes the Harvest Moon, while September's keeps the name Corn Moon.
In 2027 the equinox is on September 23. The full moon of September 15 is the nearest one, so it is the Harvest Moon. The Hunter's Moon is the October full moon, which in 2027 comes on October 15.
What is a Blue Moon, and is there one in 2027?
"Blue Moon" is an extra name, used when the count of full moons does not fit the calendar. It has two definitions.
The older one is seasonal: when a season between a solstice and an equinox has four full moons, the third is a Blue Moon. The newer one is monthly: the second full moon within one calendar month. The monthly meaning grew out of a misreading of the older rule by the amateur astronomer James Hugh Pruett in a 1946 magazine article, and it spread until it became accepted.
2027 has a seasonal Blue Moon. Four full moons fall between the March equinox and the June solstice, and the third is on May 20, 2027, the same night as the Flower Moon. No month of 2027 has two full moons.
What other names do the full moons have?
The Almanac lists many alternatives, each credited to a particular people. A few examples:
- January: Cold Moon (Cree), Spirit Moon (Ojibwe), Hard Moon (Dakota)
- March: Sugar Moon (Ojibwe), Goose Moon (Algonquin, Cree)
- June: Blooming Moon (Anishinaabe), Green Corn Moon (Cherokee)
- July: Thunder Moon (Western Abenaki), Salmon Moon (Tlingit)
- September: Falling Leaves Moon (Ojibwe), Autumn Moon (Cree)
- December: Long Night Moon (Mohican), Little Spirit Moon (Anishinaabe)
The same name can turn up in different months. Cold Moon is December's main name on the Almanac's list and also a Cree name for January, which shows how local these calendars were.
Are the names used by astronomers?
No. Observatory tables give each full moon only a date and a time, and the names carry no scientific meaning. The Strawberry Moon is not red, and the Pink Moon is not pink. A full moon near the horizon often looks orange or yellow whatever the month, because its light passes through more of the atmosphere.
The names are still a useful way to keep track of the year. For the other phases, see our moon phases 2027 calendar.