Cold Moon Name Origin
What is a Cold Moon? The full moon that appears in December is called the Cold Moon. During December, the winter has come and the cold fastens its grip, giving the Cold Moon its name.
Long Night Moon
The Cold Moon of December was sometimes also referred to as the Long Night Moon by some Native American tribes. During December, the winter nights are at their longest and darkest, giving the Cold Moon its other common name. The term Long Night Moon is a doubly appropriate name because the midwinter night is indeed long, and because the Moon is above the horizon for a long time. The midwinter full Moon has a high trajectory across the sky because it is opposite a low Sun.
Cold Moon Name Variation
The full moon name for December often used by Christian settlers is the Moon before Yule. Another name for December’s full moon is the Oak Moon.
When is the next Cold Moon?
The Cold Moon dates are expressed in Coordinated Universal Time (UT), the international basis for other time zones. Since the lunar month is only 29 days long on the average, the full moon dates shift from year to year. For Cold Moon times in your city, please use the Time Zone Converter. You may also simply subtract five (5) hours to get to U.S. Eastern Time.
| Full Moon | Year | Date | Time | Day |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cold Moon | 2011 | Dec 10 | 14:36 | Sat |
| Cold Moon | 2012 | Dec 28 | 10:21 | Fri |
| Cold Moon | 2013 | Dec 17 | 09:28 | Tue |
| Cold Moon | 2014 | Dec 6 | 12:27 | Sat |
| Cold Moon | 2015 | Dec 25 | 11:11 | Fri |
| Cold Moon | 2016 | Dec 24 | 00:06 | Sat |
| Cold Moon | 2017 | Dec 3 | 15:47 | Sun |
| Cold Moon | 2018 | Dec 22 | 17:49 | Sat |
| Cold Moon | 2019 | Dec 12 | 05:12 | Thu |
| Cold Moon | 2020 | Dec 30 | 03:28 | Fri |
Popular Full Moon Names
The naming of the Cold Moon has a pretty interesting history. Do you want to learn about other Full Moon names? If so, check out the following full moon names: Wolf Moon, Snow Moon, Worm Moon, Pink Moon, Flower Moon, Strawberry Moon, Buck Moon, Sturgeon Moon, Harvest Moon, Hunters Moon, Beaver Moon, Cold Moon, and, of course, the Blue Moon!Popular Full Moon Calendars
Some popular full moon calendars, in addition to the Cold Moon Calendar, include the following: Moon Calendar 2011, Moon Calendar 2012, Moon Calendar 2013, Moon Calendar 2014, Moon Calendar 2015, Moon Calendar 2016, Moon Calendar 2017, Moon Calendar 2018, Moon Calendar 2019, Moon Calendar 2020.
You can also check out our Full Moon Calendar, Lunar Calendar, Lunar Eclipse Calendar and Solar Eclipse Calendar!
Full Moon Names History
Full Moon names have been used by many cultures to describe the full moon throughout the year. Specifically, Native American tribes used moon phases and cycles to keep track of the seasons by giving a distinctive name to each recurring full moon, including the Flower Moon. The unique full moon names were used to identify the entire month during which each occurred.
Although many Native American tribes gave distinct names to the full moon, the most well known full moon names come from the Algonquin tribes who lived in the area of New England and westward to Lake Superior. The Algonquin tribes had perhaps the greatest effect on the early European settlers in America, and the settlers adopted the Native American habit of naming the full moons.