Full Moon Names and Meanings
Every full moon of the year has a name and a meaning. Here they all are, with the next one read live from the real sky.
Next full moon
Reading the sky…
Why full moons have names
Long before calendars hung on walls, people told the year by the Moon. Each full moon marked where you stood in the turning of the seasons: when to plant, when to hunt, when to rest. The names, gathered from farming and hunting traditions and later printed in almanacs, are tiny snapshots of what each month meant to the people who lived by the land. They are still the loveliest way to feel the year move.
The twelve full moons
One name for each month of the year.
Wolf Moon
JanuaryNextNamed for the wolves that howled through the hunger of deep winter. The Wolf Moon is endurance and belonging: holding your own through the coldest, quietest stretch of the year, and keeping the people who feel like your pack close.
Snow Moon
FebruaryNextThe moon of the heaviest snows, when the world goes still and white. It asks for patience and rest, a slowing down while you wait for the first sign of the thaw.
Worm Moon
MarchNextAs the ground softens, earthworms return and the birds follow. The Worm Moon is the first real stirring of spring: thawing, waking, and the quiet promise that winter is ending.
Pink Moon
AprilNextNamed not for its colour but for the moss pink, one of spring's earliest wildflowers. The Pink Moon is tender and green: fresh growth, new affection, and the soft start of something.
Flower Moon
MayNextWhen the blooms arrive all at once. The Flower Moon is abundance made visible: fertility, colour, and the full-hearted flourishing of everything that survived the winter.
Strawberry Moon
JuneNextNamed for the short, sweet strawberry-picking season. The Strawberry Moon is ripeness and savouring: gathering the sweetness of early summer before it passes.
Buck Moon
JulyNextWhen young bucks push out their new antlers in velvet. The Buck Moon is growth and strength: coming into your power and letting yourself take up more room. Some call it the Thunder Moon for July's storms.
Sturgeon Moon
AugustNextNamed for the great fish once caught most easily now. The Sturgeon Moon is capability and harvest: the season when effort turns into abundance and you gather what you can hold.
Harvest Moon
SeptemberNextThe full moon nearest the autumn equinox, rising early and bright to light the late harvest. The Harvest Moon is completion and gratitude: reaping what you planted and giving thanks for it. In some years it is the Corn Moon.
Hunter's Moon
OctoberNextWhen the light lasts long enough to hunt and store for winter. The Hunter's Moon is focus and provision: preparing, gathering, and making sure you have what you need for the dark months.
Beaver Moon
NovemberNextWhen the beavers finish their dams before the freeze. The Beaver Moon is building and securing: shoring up your shelter, your resources, and the people who keep you warm.
Cold Moon
DecemberNextThe long nights and the deep cold. The Cold Moon is rest and reflection: the year's final exhale, a time to look back, forgive, and gather yourself before it all begins again. It is also called the Long Nights Moon.
Blue, Super, Harvest and Blood moons
The full moons that break the pattern.
Blue Moon
A second full moon in a single calendar month, or the extra full moon in a season. It happens roughly every two and a half years, which is where 'once in a blue moon' comes from. It carries the feeling of a rare, unearned bonus: a second chance, an extra beat.
Supermoon
A full moon that lands when the Moon is closest to Earth, so it looks noticeably larger and brighter. A Supermoon amplifies whatever the full moon already stirs: feelings run higher, and the pull is stronger.
Harvest Moon
Not a month but a position: the full moon closest to the autumn equinox, whichever month it lands in. For a few nights it rises soon after sunset, big and golden, which is why it feels so cinematic.
Blood Moon
A full moon during a total lunar eclipse, when Earth's shadow turns the Moon a deep coppery red. Astrologically an eclipse is a fast-forward: endings and beginnings arrive at once, and something long due finally turns over.
The Moon had a name and a place in the sky on your birth night too.
Begin my free birth-night pageFull moons, answered
What are the names of the full moons?
Each month's full moon has a traditional name: the Wolf Moon (January), Snow Moon (February), Worm Moon (March), Pink Moon (April), Flower Moon (May), Strawberry Moon (June), Buck Moon (July), Sturgeon Moon (August), Harvest or Corn Moon (September), Hunter's Moon (October), Beaver Moon (November) and Cold Moon (December).
When is the next full moon?
The live panel at the top of this page reads the real sky and shows you the exact date of the next full moon and how many days away it is. A full moon arrives roughly every 29.5 days, so most calendar months hold one.
What is the Wolf Moon?
The Wolf Moon is January's full moon, named for the wolves that howled through the hunger of deep winter. It carries a feeling of endurance and belonging: holding your own through the coldest, quietest stretch of the year.
What is a Blue Moon?
A Blue Moon is the second full moon in a single calendar month, or the extra full moon in a season. It happens about once every two and a half years, which is where the phrase 'once in a blue moon' comes from. It has nothing to do with the Moon's colour.
What is a Supermoon?
A Supermoon is a full moon that lands when the Moon is closest to Earth in its orbit, so it looks noticeably larger and brighter. Astrologically it amplifies whatever the full moon already stirs: feelings run higher and the pull is stronger.
Why do full moons have names?
The names come from farming and hunting traditions, later gathered in almanacs, that used the Moon to track the turning seasons. Each name is a tiny snapshot of what that month meant to the people who lived by the land.
Follow the Moon
The full moon is one beat in a longer rhythm.