How Each Full Moon Got Its Name (and When to See Them)

Spoiler: It does.

Like why does the sturgeon moon rise in August?

And what the hell is a full worm moon?

What is the actual name of the Moon?

In English, the Earths moon is called the Moon.

Thats it; nothing more specific.

But first, let me get a few non-traditional full moons out of the way.

The next blue moon with be on Aug. 31, 2023.

Black moon:When there is no full moon in a month, its called a black moon.

We get a black moon about once every 19 years.

Black moon also can mean the second new moon in a month.

That will happen on May 19, 2023.

It appears slightly larger than a regular full moon, and it makes the tides more extreme.

The name supermoon was coined in 1979.

With the outliers out of the way, below are the names of the normal full moons.

They face the moon while howling, though.

Best alternative January moon names: Frost exploding moon, severe moon, greetings moon.

Best alternative February moon names:Month of the bony moon, groundhog moon, hungry moon.

Best alternative March moon names:Crow comes back moon, goose moon, snow crust moon.

Lets name the moon for them!

And everyone else went, Yeah, man, cool!

Except this one guy who was like, But I want to call it Moon of shedding ponies.

(This conversation is entirely historically accurate, by the way.)

Its June; time to pick the strawberries, buddy.

So get out there and gather em up.

Best alternative July moon names: Moon when the chokeberries are ripe, raspberry moon, thunder moon.

Deer call Octobers moon the Oh shit!

Theyre trying to kill us!

The full beaver moon was named for your mom.

(Im sorry for saying that thing about your mom earlier.)

Best alternative names for Novembers moon:Whitefish moon, deer rutting moon, frost moon.

Im no moon-name-critic, but this months moon has a disappointingly pedestrian moniker.

Its useful, sure, but where is thepoetry?

When to see it: Dec. 18, 2021