A Month by any other Name

Historical names for January include its original Roman designation, Ianuarius, the Saxon term Wulf-monath (meaning wolf month), and Charlemagne's designation Wintarmanoth (winter / cold month). In Finnish, the month is called tammikuu, meaning month of the oak, but the original meaning was the month of the heart of winter, as tammi has initially meant axis or core. In Czech this month is called leden, meaning ice month. In Ukrainian it is січень meaning cutting or slicing, perhaps referring to the wind.