The Roman Calendar of the Winter Months

The first month was named janarius after the god janus, which at this very early date, was the most important god in the early roman culture. Janus was actually much more important than jupiter, or j Jupiter early on. The second winter month was named februarius. And this month was either named for the roman god februus, or a feast of spiritual cleansing called februa. Or perhaps it was named after both. But in either case, the name comes to us eventually as february in modern english.