How many day signs are in the Mayan Tzolkʼin calendar? The answer is 20 day signs.
The Tzolkʼin combines a repeating cycle of 20 named day signs with a separate cycle of 13 numbers. Each day therefore carries both a sign and a number, such as a numbered name from the two interlocking sequences. After 260 combinations, the same pairing returns.
The 20 signs include names such as Imix, Ikʼ, Akʼbʼal, Kʼan, Kimi, Manikʼ, Lamat, Muluk, Ok, Chuwen, and Bʼen. Their meanings and spellings vary somewhat across Maya languages and historical periods, but the twenty-sign structure is consistent for the traditional cycle.
The Tzolkʼin is not simply a 20-day calendar. The 20 signs cycle alongside the 13 numbers, and because 20 and 13 have no common factor, they create 260 unique day combinations. It was central to ritual timing and remains in use among some contemporary Maya communities. The later New Age “Dreamspell” calendar is a modern reinterpretation, not the original Tzolkʼin.