Thursday, with the thur being like third, was also confusing, because it’s the fifth day. Saturday we thought of the Sabbath. We knew from The Big Lebouski, Walter couldn’t work on the Sabbath. We also thought ‘sab’ kind of sounded like the ‘sat’ in Saturday, but we weren’t sure what the actual Sabbath day was. We were stretching it a bit with how we put the rest of the days together, and it left us wondering.
Anyway, I figured we weren’t the first people to wonder where the days of the week got their names, so I decided to look it up! As it turns out, the days of the week are based on the planets, along with Greco-Roman and Germanic gods.
The names were given in, somewhat, the order the planets were perceived. Many languages have their own cultural roots ingrained in the naming of the days of the week, but in English, here’s the best I could come up with!
Sunday is pretty much literal. It means the Sun’s Day, or the day of the sun. For obvious reasons, the sun was highly revered, and took its place at the head of the line-up. It also was given the meaning, the day of the Lord, but retained the name previously bestowed upon it.
Monday means Moon’s day, being the next obvious powerful orb in the sky. Some think that since Sunday is the religious day of the week, and that many pagan rituals had to do with the moon, Monday would most definitely be after Sunday. It is also considered the first day of the workweek, because religious observations took place on Sunday so no work could be done. Therefore, Monday meant the break was officially over!
Tuesday, believe it or not, did have to do with being the second day of the week in certain cultures! Its name, however, comes from the Norse god of war and law, Tiw. It’s also associated with the planet Mars, which coincidentally is the Roman god of war, and is one of the more dominant celestial bodies in the night sky, putting it next in line after the sun and the moon.
Wednesday has to do with the middle. Its name is also connected to the planet Murcury. It was called Mittwoch (mid-week) up until the 10th century in Germany, but was changed to Wodenstag, which evolved into Wednesday, the middle day.
Thursday was identified with Jupiter, the god of thunder, which equated in Norse tradition to Thor, also the god of thunder. Thor’s Day has remained quite literal with its figurative meaning, and relation to the planets in our solar system.
Friday is named from the English goddess Frigg, or The Germanic Freyja, who’s role is the same in many cultures, but more commonly known as Aphrodite in Greece, or Venus, the goddess of love, in Roman mythology. The fact that the planet Venus is often more pronounced in the night sky than Jupiter has caused problems with people’s interpretation of the planetary line up of the days of the week, but there it stands.
Saturday is Saturn’s day, the seventh day of the week. Strangely enough, Saturn is the sixth planet. But when you throw the Sun and the Moon in the works, and leave out Earth, it makes sense! In many religions it’s observed as the Sabbath, the day of rest. That, of course, relates to the biblical teachings of creation. Saturn is also associated with Chronos, the lord of the titans in Greek mythology, who was the father of Zeus.
This, of course is the canned version of what I found in reading through the name origins of the days of the week. There’s a lot more out there! If you want to add to this, or you’ve found a mistake, please let me know!