05/13/2026
Spring has finally arrived, and we look forward to May’s bright blooms and June’s budding fruit trees. Before the adoption of Latin-based names for the months of the year, Serbs called ‘May’ “цветањ / cvetanj“ – the flower month, and June was “трешњар / trešnjar“, when cherries ripened. Folk names for the months of the year directly reflected natural seasonal processes and their use persisted into the 19th century, and in some cases, remained popular even at the beginning of the 20th century, particularly in rural areas. Based on changes in weather and climate, agricultural activities, and customary cultural practices, they made sense as time markers. Many Slavs used such folk names with variations. Slavic calendars were based on nature, so the same name could refer to different months depending on local climate and tradition. “Сечко / Sečko” is February in Serbian, but January for Poles, who experienced a colder climate earlier in the year. ❄️
The names chosen for our post were not the only ones used among Serbs, as different regions preserved a variety of alternative folk names alongside them. You can still find them in folk songs and sayings, such as this one for гроздобер / grozdober (September): „Кад дође гроздобер, виногради се разиграју, девојке певају, а гроздови се беру.“ „Kad dođe grozdober, vinogradi se razigraju, devojke pevaju, a grozdovi se beru.“ (When September comes, the vineyards come alive, the girls sing, and the grapes are harvested.) P.S. The names of the months are not capitalized in Serbian. 😊
