Janus is the Roman god associated with January, the month that begins the Gregorian New Year.
January takes its English name from the Latin Ianuarius, meaning the month of Janus. Roman tradition connected Janus with beginnings, transitions, doorways, and passages, making him a natural symbolic figure for moving from one year into the next.
Janus was commonly represented with two faces, one looking forward and one backward. This imagery came to symbolize reflection on the past alongside attention to the future, themes that remain common in New Year’s Eve speeches and resolutions.
January was not always the first month of the Roman calendar. Roman calendar reforms gradually established its position, and the Julian calendar retained January 1 as the year’s opening date. The Gregorian calendar later refined the calendar system while preserving that convention.