Full moon names explained: 10 traditional moons and their 2026 and 2027 dates

A full moon name works like an entry in a folk calendar. Most of the names tag a stretch of the year with an animal, a crop, a wildflower or the weather. The Blue Moon is the exception. It marks a quirk of the calendar rather than a season. None of the names describes how the moon itself looks.

The names most U.S. readers recognize were popularized by the Old Farmer's Almanac. The Almanac says its list draws on Native American, colonial American and European traditions. These names are not official astronomical terms. In astronomy, a full moon is the moment the moon sits opposite the sun in the sky. The seasonal label is a cultural layer added on top. Several names also carry more than one origin story, and some have no single agreed explanation.

The calendar does not divide neatly into moons. One lunar cycle, from full moon to full moon, lasts about 29.5 days. A run of 12 cycles comes to about 354 days, short of a full calendar year. That gap means some years hold an extra full moon. In 2026 there are 13 full moons, including two in May. In 2027 there are 12.

This guide to full moon names for 2026 and 2027 covers 10 traditional names, from the Worm Moon in March to the Cold Moon in December. It is a selection, not a complete list. Each entry explains what its name refers to and gives its dates for the years where they apply. Where a 2026 date has already passed, the 2027 date is the next one on the calendar.

Three familiar names fall outside the 10 entries here. The Wolf Moon arrives on Jan. 22, 2027. The Snow Moon follows on Feb. 20, 2027, and the Flower Moon on May 20, 2027.

All dates use U.S. Eastern time. A full moon is a single instant. Its calendar date can differ by one day in other time zones. A full moon late in the evening Eastern time, for example, already falls on the next date in London. To the naked eye, the moon also looks nearly full on the nights just before and after that instant. That gives viewers more than one evening to see it.

Illustration: Quartz

The Worm Moon is the traditional name for the March full moon. Its next appearance is on March 22, 2027. The name ties the month to the end of winter, when thawing soil draws earthworms back toward the surface.

The usual account of the name follows the thaw. As frozen ground softens in late winter, earthworms move up through the soil. Their casts start to appear on the surface again. Robins and other birds return and feed on them. The story is repeated widely in almanac accounts of the moon names. It is a folk explanation, not a documented history of where the name began.

Worm Moon is one of the full moon names the Old Farmer's Almanac popularized among U.S. readers. It is not an official astronomical term. Astronomers call this one the March full moon.

The 2027 date sits just after a seasonal turning point. The March equinox falls around March 20 each year. That marks the start of astronomical spring in the Northern Hemisphere. Days and nights are roughly equal in length around the equinox. A full moon on March 22 therefore arrives two days into the new season.

The thaw story only fits the Northern Hemisphere. In Australia, South Africa and Argentina, March is early autumn. The same full moon rises there as the days shorten and temperatures fall. The name reflects the climate of the places where the tradition took hold, not a worldwide season.

The timing also matters for the Christian calendar. Western churches set Easter as the first Sunday after a calculated church full moon falling on or after March 21. That church date does not always match the astronomical full moon. In 2027 the calculated date also lands on March 22. Easter that year falls on March 28.

Like any full moon, the Worm Moon rises in the east near sunset and sets in the west near sunrise. That keeps it above the horizon for most of the night.

Illustration: Quartz

The Pink Moon is the traditional name for April's full moon. It takes its name from creeping phlox, a spring wildflower, and not from the moon's color. In U.S. Eastern time, the Pink Moon falls on April 1, 2026, and April 20, 2027.

The 2026 date becomes April 2 in some time zones farther east of the U.S.

The name is part of the folk calendar popularized by the Old Farmer's Almanac. The Almanac ties the Pink Moon to the early spring bloom of creeping phlox. It also lists other names for the April full moon, including the Egg Moon, the Fish Moon and the Sprouting Grass Moon.

Creeping phlox is a low-growing wildflower native to eastern North America. Its botanical name is Phlox subulata, and it is also sold as moss phlox. The plant spreads in dense mats close to the ground. Its narrow, needle-like leaves explain the species name, which comes from the Latin word for an awl. In spring, the mats fill with small five-petaled flowers. Pink is the best-known shade, though white, lavender and purple varieties are common.

The moon itself does not turn pink in April. In any month, a full moon can look yellow, orange or reddish when it sits low on the horizon. That effect comes from Earth's atmosphere. Near the horizon, moonlight passes through more air before it reaches the eye. The air scatters blue light and lets warmer colors through.

The April date moves from year to year. The 2027 Pink Moon lands 19 days later on the calendar than the 2026 one. A run of 12 lunar cycles lasts about 354 days, roughly 11 days short of a 365-day year. That gap usually pulls a named full moon about 11 days earlier each year. Between these two Pink Moons, though, there are 13 cycles rather than 12. The extra cycle comes from the second full moon in May 2026. As a result, the 2027 Pink Moon arrives 384 days after the 2026 one.

The April full moon can also set the date of Easter. Western churches place Easter on the first Sunday after the church's calculated full moon on or after March 21. In 2026, Easter falls on April 5, the Sunday after the Pink Moon. In 2027, the March full moon falls on March 22, just after that cutoff. Easter therefore moves earlier, to March 28.

Illustration: Quartz

The full moon on May 31, 2026, is a Blue Moon under the most common modern definition: the second full moon in a single calendar month. The first full moon of May 2026, the Flower Moon, is dated May 1.

The name describes timing, not color. A calendar Blue Moon looks like any other full moon in the sky.

Two full moons can share one month because a lunar cycle is slightly shorter than every month except February. When a full moon lands on the first day or two of a 30- or 31-day month, a second one can arrive before the month ends. That is what happens in May 2026, with full moons on dates 30 days apart.

February is the one month that can never hold a calendar Blue Moon. It has 28 days, or 29 in a leap year. Both lengths fall short of a full lunar cycle.

The older definition counts by season instead of by month. Each season runs from a solstice to an equinox or from an equinox to a solstice. A season normally contains three full moons, but some hold four. Under the seasonal rule, the third of those four is the Blue Moon. The Maine Farmers' Almanac used this version.

The calendar-month version grew out of a misreading of that rule. In 1946, James Hugh Pruett wrote an article for Sky & Telescope magazine. It took the almanac's seasonal Blue Moon to mean the second full moon in a month. Sky & Telescope acknowledged the error in 1999. By then the simpler definition had spread widely. It remains the more common of the two.

The two rules do not always point to the same moon. A seasonal Blue Moon and a calendar Blue Moon can land in different months or even different years. A full moon that counts as blue under one rule may not qualify under the other.

Like the other traditional moon names, Blue Moon is not an official astronomical term. The phrase "once in a blue moon" means something rare. Calendar Blue Moons do arrive only every two to three years on average.

The moon can take on a bluish tint, but that has nothing to do with the calendar. Large volcanic eruptions or wildfires can put fine particles into the air that change how moonlight looks. Observers reported blue-tinted moons after the 1883 eruption of Krakatoa in Indonesia. Smoke from large forest fires in western Canada in September 1950 produced a similar effect over parts of Europe.

Illustration: Quartz

The Strawberry Moon is the traditional name for June's full moon. It falls on June 29, 2026, and June 19, 2027, in U.S. Eastern time. The Old Farmer's Almanac ties the name to the season when strawberries ripen and are gathered in June.

The 2026 date sits on a time zone boundary. Observers in the Eastern time zone see the moon reach its full phase on June 29. In time zones farther east, the same moment falls on June 30.

The name describes the time of year, not the moon's appearance. A Strawberry Moon is not red or pink. Like the other names the Almanac popularized, it is a folk label rather than an official astronomical term.

Eastern North America's native wild strawberry, Fragaria virginiana, ripens from late spring into early summer. The large garden strawberry sold today is a hybrid of that species and the Chilean strawberry, Fragaria chiloensis. The cross first appeared in European gardens in the 18th century.

The June full moon has an astronomical quirk of its own. A full moon tracks roughly the path the sun follows about six months earlier or later. In June, the sun reaches its highest midday position of the year in the Northern Hemisphere. That puts the June full moon at its lowest. For viewers at U.S. latitudes, the Strawberry Moon traces a shallow arc across the southern sky and stays fairly close to the horizon.

A moon near the horizon is seen through more of the atmosphere. Air scatters short blue wavelengths more strongly than longer yellow and red ones. Light that crosses that thicker layer loses more of its blue. A low moon can take on a yellow or orange cast as a result. Any warm tint comes from the air, not from the name.

The 2027 date lands close to the June solstice, which usually falls on June 20 or 21. That timing means the 2027 Strawberry Moon also rides low in the night sky.

Illustration: Quartz

The Buck Moon is the traditional name for July's full moon. It falls on July 29 in 2026 and July 18 in 2027, U.S. Eastern time. The name refers to male deer, or bucks, growing new antlers in midsummer.

The Old Farmer's Almanac popularized the name, which is a seasonal label rather than an official astronomical term. To an astronomer, the July full moon is like any other.

Antlers are made of bone. Horns stay on an animal for life, but antlers are shed and regrown every year. In most deer species, only males grow them. Caribou, called reindeer in Europe, are the main exception. Female caribou grow antlers too.

Antlers are among the fastest-growing bone tissue in mammals. Their yearly cycle is tied to day length and to the buck's hormones. Lengthening spring days start new growth.

While antlers grow, a soft skin called velvet covers them. The velvet carries blood vessels that feed the growing bone. By late summer, rising testosterone hardens the antlers, and the buck rubs the velvet off. Bucks carry the finished antlers into the autumn breeding season, known as the rut. Testosterone falls after the rut. The antlers drop off in late winter.

That timing is what the name captures. In July, a buck's antlers are still in velvet and still gaining size. A full moon in that month lands in the middle of the growth phase.

The 2027 Buck Moon arrives 11 days earlier on the calendar than the 2026 one. That shift follows from the mismatch between lunar cycles and the calendar year.

The July 18, 2027, Buck Moon also coincides with a penumbral lunar eclipse. In this type of eclipse, the moon passes through the penumbra, the faint outer part of Earth's shadow. It misses the dark inner shadow, called the umbra. The result is a slight dimming of the moon's face that can be hard to notice. Partial and total eclipses involve the umbra and darken the moon far more.

Illustration: Quartz

The Sturgeon Moon is the traditional name for August's full moon. It falls on Aug. 28, 2026, and Aug. 17, 2027, on U.S. Eastern time. The name refers to a fish, not to the moon's color or size.

The Old Farmer's Almanac ties this name to fishing. Sturgeon were easy to catch in the Great Lakes and Lake Champlain in August, according to the Almanac. Like the other names in its calendar, Sturgeon Moon is a folk label rather than an official astronomical term.

The fish behind the name is the lake sturgeon, a species native to the Great Lakes basin, Lake Champlain and other North American fresh waters. Rows of bony plates, called scutes, run along its body in place of ordinary scales. Four whiskerlike barbels hang in front of its toothless mouth. The fish drags them along the lake bottom to find snails, insect larvae and other small prey, then sucks the food in.

Lake sturgeon are among the largest freshwater fish in North America. Adults can grow longer than six feet and weigh more than 200 pounds. They grow slowly and can live for more than a century. Females take roughly two decades to reach breeding age. In spring, adults move into rivers to spawn over rocky bottoms.

Commercial fishing in the late 1800s took lake sturgeon in large numbers. Fishers sold the smoked meat, and the eggs went to market as caviar. Swim bladders were processed into isinglass, a gelatin used to clarify beer and wine. Great Lakes populations collapsed. A fish that breeds so late recovers slowly once its numbers fall. Vermont lists the Lake Champlain population as endangered.

The 2026 Sturgeon Moon coincides with a partial lunar eclipse. In a partial eclipse, only part of the moon passes into the darkest region of Earth's shadow, called the umbra. That section dims and can take on a reddish or brownish tint while the rest stays bright. Lunar eclipses can happen only at a full moon. That is the point when the sun, Earth and moon line up with Earth in the middle.

Illustration: Quartz

The Harvest Moon is the full moon closest to the September equinox, not the full moon of a fixed month. In U.S. Eastern time, it falls on Sept. 26, 2026, and on Sept. 15, 2027.

That definition sets it apart from most traditional full moon names. Names such as Pink Moon or Cold Moon are tied to a calendar month. The Harvest Moon is tied to an astronomical marker instead. The September equinox arrives around Sept. 22 or 23 each year. Whichever full moon lands nearest that date takes the name.

The rule means the Harvest Moon usually falls in September but can move into October. That happens when the September full moon arrives early in the month and the October full moon sits closer to the equinox.

The dates for the next two years show how the gap works. The 2026 Harvest Moon comes a few days after the equinox. The 2027 Harvest Moon comes about a week before it. The October full moon that year falls on Oct. 15, more than three weeks after the equinox. The Sept. 15 date is closer and keeps the title.

The name reflects its timing. Late September falls during the autumn harvest across much of the Northern Hemisphere.

Orbital mechanics give the name a practical basis. On average, the moon rises about 50 minutes later each day. Near the September equinox, that daily delay shrinks for observers at mid-northern latitudes. At around 40 degrees north, it can drop to roughly 30 minutes. The moon's evening path meets the eastern horizon at a shallow angle at this time of year. As a result, a bright, nearly full moon rises soon after sunset for several evenings in a row.

That extra light at dusk arrives during the busiest weeks of the harvest. It is the clearest link between this moon and the farm work its name describes. The effect is stronger at higher latitudes, where the delay shrinks further.

The Harvest Moon is not physically larger or brighter than other full moons. It often looks orange or amber as it rises. That color comes from moonlight passing through more of Earth's atmosphere near the horizon. The air scatters away the shorter blue wavelengths. Any full moon low in the sky can show the same tint. The Harvest Moon draws attention for it because it sits low at dusk on several consecutive evenings.

The Southern Hemisphere sees the pattern reversed. There, the September equinox marks the start of spring. The autumn equinox falls in March, and the shortened moonrise delay appears around that time instead.

Illustration: Quartz

The Hunter's Moon is the first full moon after the Harvest Moon. In U.S. Eastern time, it falls on Oct. 26, 2026, and on Oct. 15, 2027.

The name works by sequence, not by a fixed month. It goes to whichever full moon comes next once the Harvest Moon has passed.

The Harvest Moon is the full moon closest to the September equinox, which falls around Sept. 23. That means the Harvest Moon can land in late September or early October. The Hunter's Moon moves with it. When the Harvest Moon falls in October, the Hunter's Moon shifts to late October or early November.

In 2026, the Harvest Moon falls on Sept. 26. The Hunter's Moon follows 30 calendar days later, on Oct. 26.

In 2027, the Harvest Moon arrives on Sept. 15. The Hunter's Moon follows on Oct. 15, again 30 days later. In both years, the pair splits across September and October.

The Old Farmer's Almanac, which popularized the familiar full moon names, links this one to autumn hunting. In the Almanac's account, the moon marked the time to hunt and store meat ahead of winter. Harvested fields left open ground, where game was easier to spot by moonlight. The name is a folk label, not an official astronomical term.

The Hunter's Moon shares an evening effect with the Harvest Moon. Around the autumn equinox in the Northern Hemisphere, the moon's path meets the evening horizon at a shallow angle. As a result, moonrise comes only a little later from one night to the next. For several evenings around the full moon, it rises soon after sunset. At most other times of year, the nightly delay in moonrise is longer.

Both names follow Northern Hemisphere seasons. South of the equator, autumn begins at the March equinox. Where these names are used there, the Harvest Moon and Hunter's Moon shift to the months after that equinox. The October dates given here apply to the Northern Hemisphere calendar.

Illustration: Quartz

The Beaver Moon is the traditional name for November's full moon. It falls on Nov. 24, 2026, and on Nov. 14, 2027, using U.S. Eastern dates.

The name is one of the monthly full moon names popularized by the Old Farmer's Almanac. The Almanac traces its list to a mix of Native American, colonial American and European traditions.

The origin of this particular name is disputed. Two explanations circulate, and no record settles which one came first.

One account links the name to beavers preparing for winter. The other ties it to the season when trappers set beaver traps. The first centers on the animal. The second centers on the people who hunted it.

The animal behind the name is the North American beaver, Castor canadensis. It is the largest rodent in North America. Its range covers most of Canada and much of the U.S. Beavers live in family groups in lodges built from sticks and mud, usually in ponds formed by their own dams.

Beavers do not hibernate. In autumn, they cut branches and sink them in the water near the lodge as a food cache. Once ice covers the pond, they swim out beneath it to feed on that store. They also pack fresh mud onto lodges and dams before winter.

Beaver fur was the central commodity of the North American fur trade from the 1600s into the 1800s. European hatters turned the fur into felt for hats. The Hudson's Bay Company, chartered in England in 1670, was built largely on that trade. Beaver populations across much of North America fell sharply as a result.

Neither account can be confirmed as the source of the name. Each describes real activity in late autumn.

The Beaver Moon's date moves from year to year. In 2027, it arrives 10 days earlier in November than in 2026.

In the Almanac's sequence, the Beaver Moon follows October's Hunter's Moon. December's Cold Moon comes next and closes out the calendar year.