Next Full Moon: Date, Name, and Meaning (2026 Complete Guide)

Where the Full Moon Names Come From

The names English speakers use for each month's full moon — Wolf, Snow, Worm, Pink, Flower, Strawberry, and the rest — are a borrowed inheritance. Most of them come from the Algonquin and Ojibwe peoples of the northeastern woodlands, whose seasonal calendars tracked animal behavior, plant growth, and weather more closely than any dated document could. European settlers picked up those names, added a few of their own (Hunter's Moon, Beaver Moon carry a fur-trade fingerprint), and the Old Farmer's Almanac standardized the set starting in the 1930s. The Almanac is the main reason these particular names — not others — became the default.

Other traditions name their moons differently. Celtic calendars used tree names (Birch Moon, Oak Moon). Chinese tradition ties full moons to festivals and agricultural phases. Hindu lunar calendars mark moons by the nakshatra (star pattern) they align with. The Maori reckoning counts moons by fishing and planting windows in the Southern Hemisphere. Every culture that tracked the Moon ended up naming it, because the Moon was the clock.

This article covers the Algonquin-Almanac set because that's the one people see on English-language calendars. The deeper history is worth knowing: these aren't ancient astronomical categories. They're seasonal markers farmers and hunters used to keep time without printed pages.

How Full Moon Naming Actually Works

Every traditional moon name describes something happening on the ground, not in the sky. Wolves howled more audibly in January. Snow fell heaviest in February. Earthworms surfaced in March. Phlox bloomed pink in April. The names are a form of ecological memory — compressed knowledge about what to expect, month by month, encoded in a word most people could remember.

The system works because lunar months and solar months don't align perfectly. A synodic month (new moon to new moon) runs 29.53 days, while calendar months are 30 or 31. That mismatch means a full moon can fall anywhere in its assigned month, and occasionally a thirteenth full moon squeezes in over a calendar year. The Algonquin calendar dealt with the extra moon by having a name for it — and one year in three or so, that extra moon got used.

The names cluster around three kinds of markers:

• Weather and cold — Snow Moon, Cold Moon, Hunger Moon
• Plants and harvest — Pink Moon, Flower Moon, Strawberry Moon, Harvest Moon
• Animals and hunting — Wolf Moon, Worm Moon, Buck Moon, Sturgeon Moon, Hunter's Moon, Beaver Moon

If you're reading this in April 2026, the last full moon was the Pink Moon on April 2. The next one is the Flower Moon on May 1. After that, something unusual: a second full moon in May, the Blue Moon on May 31.

The 13 Full Moons of 2026

2026 is a thirteen-moon year. That extra full moon — the Blue Moon on May 31 — is the headline, but every month has its own character. Dates are UTC; your local date may shift by a day.

| Date (UTC) | Name | Alt Names | Month Meaning |

|------------|------|-----------|---------------|

| January 3 | Wolf Moon | Old Moon, Moon After Yule | Deep-winter hunger and wolf calls |

| February 2 | Snow Moon | Hunger Moon, Storm Moon | Heaviest snowfall of the year |

| March 3 | Worm Moon | Crow Moon, Sap Moon | Thaw and returning soil life |

| April 2 | Pink Moon | Egg Moon, Sprouting Grass Moon, Paschal Moon | Early wildflower bloom |

| May 1 | Flower Moon | Corn Planting Moon, Milk Moon | Peak spring flowering |

| May 31 | Blue Moon | — | Second full moon of the month |

| June 29 | Strawberry Moon | Rose Moon (European) | Wild strawberry harvest |

| July 29 | Buck Moon | Thunder Moon, Hay Moon | Male deer grow new antlers |

| August 28 | Sturgeon Moon | Grain Moon | Great Lakes sturgeon season |

| September 26 | Harvest Moon | Corn Moon | Closest full moon to autumn equinox |

| October 26 | Hunter's Moon | Blood Moon, Sanguine Moon | Stocking winter meat stores |

| November 24 | Beaver Moon | Frost Moon | Beaver dam-building before ice |

| December 24 | Cold Moon | Long Nights Moon, Moon Before Yule | Longest nights of the year |

January 3 — Wolf Moon

Named for wolves heard howling outside settlements in the deep cold of January. Pre-industrial winters left wolves hungry and audible, and the sound carried across snow in ways summer landscapes muffle. Anglo-Saxon tradition called the same moon the Moon After Yule, tying it to the midwinter solstice festival. Some Algonquin groups used Old Moon, marking it as the first of the calendar year.

February 2 — Snow Moon

The name tracks the simplest fact about February in temperate North America: it's the snowiest month on average across much of the continent. The Cherokee called it Hunger Moon for the bleakness — stored food running low, game thinned out, winter still holding. European settlers sometimes called it Storm Moon, for the same reason. Three names, one season.

March 3 — Worm Moon

When the ground thaws enough for earthworm casts to show on the surface, robins arrive to feed. That coincidence — worms emerging, birds returning — gave the March moon its name among the Algonquin. Other names for the same moon include Crow Moon (for the return of noisy crow flocks) and Sap Moon (when sugar maples run). The Anglo-Saxons called it Lenten Moon, tied to the Christian fasting season.

April 2 — Pink Moon

This is the most misunderstood moon name on the calendar. The Pink Moon is not pink. The name comes from Phlox subulata, wild ground phlox, a low-growing pink wildflower that blooms across eastern North America in early April. The moon itself rises whatever color the horizon makes it — usually white or pale gold. Alternate names include Sprouting Grass Moon, Egg Moon (when hens resume heavy laying), and Paschal Moon (the full moon used to calculate Easter).

May 1 — Flower Moon

Peak wildflower bloom across the Northern Hemisphere. The name is Algonquin in origin, reflecting the explosion of flowering that happens once the last frost lifts. Corn Planting Moon was used by Ojibwe and other woodland peoples who timed corn planting to its light. The European alternative, Milk Moon, referenced dairy cows returning to pasture.

May 31 — Blue Moon

The second full moon of May 2026, and the only Blue Moon of the year. The name has nothing to do with color — the Moon does not turn blue. It's a calendar artifact: two full moons in a single month, which happens roughly every 2-3 years because synodic months are shorter than calendar months. The next Blue Moon after this one falls in 2028, then not again until 2029 (depending on which definition you use — see below). The phrase "once in a blue moon" predates the astronomical definition by centuries; English speakers used it figuratively as early as the 1500s to mean "rarely or never."

June 29 — Strawberry Moon

North American wild strawberries ripen in late June, and Algonquin peoples timed harvest to this moon. European tradition called the same moon the Rose Moon, after the early-summer bloom of wild and cultivated roses. The names tell you which side of the Atlantic the namer stood on.

July 29 — Buck Moon

In July, male white-tailed deer begin growing the new antlers they'll carry into fall rut. The velvet-covered growth is visible and rapid — noticeable enough that Algonquin observers named a moon for it. Thunder Moon was the alternate, for July's afternoon thunderstorms. Hay Moon came from colonial farmers, timing hay harvest to the same window.

August 28 — Sturgeon Moon

Named by Great Lakes Indigenous peoples for the large lake sturgeon that were most abundant and most easily caught in late August. Sturgeon can grow over six feet long and were a major food source for lakeside communities. Grain Moon was an alternate, for the early grain harvest further south.

September 26 — Harvest Moon

Officially, the Harvest Moon is the full moon closest to the autumn equinox (September 22-23), regardless of which calendar month it falls in. 2026's lands three days after the equinox, which qualifies comfortably. What makes this moon genuinely useful — not just named — is its rising pattern. For several nights around the equinox, the Moon rises only 25-30 minutes later each evening instead of the usual 50. Pre-electric farmers got extended dusk light to finish harvest work. That's the whole origin of the name.

October 26 — Hunter's Moon

With fields cleared after harvest and bright moonlight flooding the open ground, hunters tracked deer, elk, and other game to stock meat for the coming winter. The Hunter's Moon shares the Harvest Moon's rising behavior (short delays between rises, extra evening light) for the same reason — it falls near the equinox. Alternate names include Blood Moon and Sanguine Moon, both tied to the butchering that followed.

November 24 — Beaver Moon

By November, beavers have finished their dams and lodges and are storing food for winter under the ice. Colonial-era fur trappers set their final traps before rivers froze, and the name stuck. Some Algonquin groups also used Frost Moon, for the first hard freezes that usually arrive this month.

December 24 — Cold Moon

The longest nights, the shortest days, the deepest cold. The name is exactly what it says. The Mohawk called it Cold Moon; other Algonquin groups used Long Nights Moon. Anglo-Saxon tradition called it Moon Before Yule, tying it to the midwinter festival that Christianity later overlaid with Christmas. A full moon landing on Christmas Eve, as 2026's does, is rare — only a handful of times per century. The last was 1977; the next after 2026 is 2053.

What a Blue Moon Actually Is

Two definitions circulate, both considered correct.

Calendar Blue Moon (modern, popular). The second full moon in a single calendar month. Because synodic months run 29.53 days and most calendar months are 30 or 31, this happens every 2-3 years. This is what May 31, 2026 is — the second full moon of May, with the first (Flower Moon) on May 1.

Seasonal Blue Moon (original, Almanac). The third full moon in a season that contains four. Most seasons — winter, spring, summer, autumn — contain three full moons. Occasionally a season gets a fourth, and the Almanac called the third of four the Blue Moon. That was the original rule. A 1946 Sky & Telescope article misread the definition and published the simpler "second full moon in a month" version, which spread through popular culture and became the dominant meaning.

Both are now in common use. Astronomers don't treat Blue Moons as a real category — the Moon on May 31 is astronomically identical to the Moon on May 1. It's a calendar label, not a celestial event. The Moon does not turn blue. (It can briefly look bluish after major volcanic eruptions or wildfires, when atmospheric particles scatter red light more than blue — but that's a filter effect, not a Blue Moon.)

Supermoons in 2026

A supermoon is a full moon within 90% of its closest approach to Earth (perigee). The term was coined in 1979 by astrologer Richard Nolle and later adopted loosely by astronomers. A supermoon appears about 7% larger and 15% brighter than an average full moon — real differences, though subtle without side-by-side comparison.

2026's closest full moons cluster in late summer and autumn, when full moon alignment catches the perigee point of the lunar orbit:

• August 28 (Sturgeon Moon) — qualifies as a supermoon
• September 26 (Harvest Moon) — closest supermoon of the year
• October 26 (Hunter's Moon) — qualifies as a supermoon
• November 24 (Beaver Moon) — borderline

Supermoons typically come in clusters of two to four consecutive months as perigee drifts past full moon across multiple cycles. 2026's autumn run is standard. The brightness boost is most noticeable on a clear, dark-sky night when you can see it reflecting off water or snow.

Micromoons in 2026

The opposite of a supermoon. A micromoon is a full moon at or near apogee — the Moon's farthest point from Earth, around 406,700 km. Micromoons look about 14% smaller and 30% dimmer than supermoons, though almost nobody notices unless someone tells them.

2026's micromoons cluster in late winter and early spring, opposite the supermoon pattern: the February 2 Snow Moon and March 3 Worm Moon both fall near apogee. If you're paying attention, those will look slightly smaller than the year's standard full moon.

Micromoons get almost no cultural attention because the difference isn't visually obvious. But they're a good reminder that the Moon's distance from Earth swings by about 50,000 km every month, which is why size varies at all.

Cultural and Spiritual Framing

Full moons carry cultural weight that predates astronomy. This is worth acknowledging plainly, without tipping into pseudoscience.

Menstrual cycles. The word "menstruation" shares a root with "month" and "Moon" — all descend from the same Proto-Indo-European stem for measurement. Menstrual cycles average 28-29 days, close to the 29.53-day synodic month. Historical connections have been proposed for centuries. Modern research is mixed: a 2021 study in Science Advances found some evidence that menstrual cycles of women not using hormonal contraception show weak synchronization with lunar phases under specific conditions. Most researchers treat the effect as real but small, irregular, and likely mediated by light exposure rather than any mystical pull.

Agricultural planning. Pre-electric societies timed planting, harvesting, and animal husbandry to lunar cycles because lunar cycles were the most visible regular timekeeper available. Biodynamic farming traditions still do. Whether this matters agronomically is debated, but as calendar infrastructure it worked for millennia.

Poetry, mythology, ritual. Every culture with a lunar calendar built stories around it. Selene and Artemis in Greek tradition. Chang'e in Chinese lore. Mani in Norse myth. Full moons appear in wedding timing (June Strawberry Moon), harvest festivals (Mid-Autumn Festival), religious observances (Paschal Moon sets Easter, Purnima marks Hindu festivals), and countless lines of poetry. Those traditions are cultural, not astronomical — but they're real parts of how humans have lived with the Moon.

None of this requires believing the Moon has mystical power over you. It does require acknowledging that a bright object that repeats on a 29.5-day schedule, visible to everyone without equipment, has shaped human timekeeping, storytelling, and ritual more thoroughly than almost any other natural phenomenon.

Tracking Full Moons Practically

For the live current phase, illumination percentage, next full moon date, and twelve-month visual calendar, /moon-calendar on SunGeo.net shows everything at once. No account, no location tracking, no email required.

For phone apps, the strong options are:

• Sky Guide (iOS) and Stellarium (iOS, Android, desktop) — planetarium apps with accurate lunar data
• Deluxe Moon (iOS) and My Moon Phase (Android) — dedicated lunar trackers
• Photo Pills and PlanIt Pro — photographer-oriented, show moonrise/moonset angles

For calendar alerts, most calendar apps (Google Calendar, Apple Calendar) let you subscribe to public lunar calendar feeds that auto-populate full moon dates and names.

For practical viewing — no app required — check what time the Sun sets tonight. A full moon rises at sunset by definition. Step outside 10-20 minutes after sunset, look east, and the Moon will be coming up over the horizon, looking its largest and most dramatic of the night.

The Next Full Moon

If you're reading this on April 4, 2026, the last full moon was the Pink Moon on April 2. The next one is the Flower Moon on May 1 — peak wildflower season across the Northern Hemisphere, and the first of two full moons in May 2026. Four weeks and change from now.

After that, on May 31, the Blue Moon. Two full moons in one month, which doesn't happen again until 2028.

Between now and then, the Moon will cycle through its waning gibbous and third quarter phases, go dark at new moon on April 17, and build back through waxing crescent and first quarter to full. Standard 29.5-day synodic cycle, same as every other month.

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The Moon is the one astronomical object you can watch tonight, for free, from wherever you happen to be. The name you use for the next full moon — Flower, in May — is one your grandparents' grandparents would have recognized. And theirs before them, going back through farmers and hunters and woodland peoples until the naming itself predates written English.

For the live phase and the full 2026 calendar, open /moon-calendar. For more on lunar cycles, sleep, and the wider picture of what the Sun and Earth's electromagnetic environment are doing tonight, more writing lives on /blog.

Traditional full moon names sourced from the Old Farmer's Almanac and Algonquin tradition. Astronomical data per NASA Moon.