Learn How The Days Were Named

School Name Labels That Last For Days, Weeks, Months & Years!

Between the 1^st and 3^rd centuries, the Roman Empire formally adopted a seven-day week. The days were named for one of the Seven Luminaries (or Classical Planets). At the time, a “planet” was an object in space, visible to the naked eye, which appeared to move across the sky over time. The “Seven Luminaries” were Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, the Sun, and the Moon – and each one was associated with a Roman God or Goddess.

Astrologers believed that these planets (and their respective deities) “ruled” over a particular day of the week and various hours of each day. Many ancient civilisations thought that the Earth was (near) the centre of the universe and that the planets orbited this central point. The movement of each object across the sky was used to work out their position in the universe – apparently slower moving objects were thought to be farther away from Earth, creating the “Chaldean order” of Saturn, Jupiter, Mars, Sun, Venus, Mercury, Moon. It was therefore believed that the planets ruled over the hours of the first day of the week as follows:

This pattern was continued for the following six days and each day was then named for the Roman God or Goddess represented by the planet that ruled over its first hour, as follows:  

diēs Saturnī         Saturday’s first hour is ruled by Saturn and is named for Saturnus
diēs Sōlis             Sunday’s first hour is ruled by the Sun and is named for Sol
diēs Lūnae          Monday’s first hour is ruled by the Moon and is named for Luna
diēs Martis          Tuesday’s first hour is ruled by Mars and is named for Mars
diēs Mercuriī       Wednesday’s first hour is ruled by Mercury and is named for Mercurius
diēs Iōvis             Thursday’s first hour is ruled by Jupiter and is named for Iuppiter (also known as Jove or Iovis)
diēs Veneris        Friday’s first hour is ruled by Venus and is named for Venus

Of course, these names won’t seem all that familiar (unless you’ve studied Latin-based languages, like Italian, French, Spanish etc). This is because English was influenced by Germanic languages (as well as Latin) in which the days were named for the Germanic equivalents of each Roman deity:

Sunnandæg        Day Of Sunna (Sól)
Mōnandæg         Day Of Mōna (Mēnô/Máni/Māno)
Tīwesdæg           Day Of Tiw (Tīwaz/Týr)
Wōdnesdæg       Day Of Wōden (Wōdanaz/Óðinn)
Þunresdæg         Day Of Þunraz (Þunor/Þórr/Thunor/Thor)
Frīgedæg            Day Of Frīge

(As Saturn didn’t have an equivalent, the Roman name was usually borrowed, becoming Sæternesdæg in Old English).

Name Labels That Last For Days, Weeks, Months, and Years!

We often receive feedback from customers who are amazed (and delighted) to find that Stikins ® labels really do stick in and stay in – remaining firmly in place long after items have been outgrown or worn to the point of destruction.

Stikins ® labels are made with specially developed materials designed to make your name labels last and last and last – even after repeat trips through washing machines, tumble dryers, microwaves, dishwashers, and sinks.

If you find yourself spending day after day trying to keep track of your children’s stuff (or replacing things they’ve lost), Stikins ® name labels are the perfect time saver. Our sticky name labels simply stick on and stay on and you can use them as clothing labels for school uniform or general purpose name stickers for everything else!

We print name labels every day, Monday to Friday, up to 3pm – so your name labels will always be despatched on the same or next working day – saving you even more time to spend your days doing stuff that’s a bit more fun than labelling endless piles of school uniform!

To find out more simply head on over to our Name Labels Information Page – or jump ahead to our Order Page to place an order today!