Python Get Month Name From Number

In Python, you can use the calendar module’s calendar.month_name[number] attribute to get the month name from a given number.

For example, month_name = calendar.month_name[6] will give you June as an output. If you have a datetime object, datetime(2022, 10, 12, 18, 45, 56), then it will return October as a month name.

In this lesson, you’ll learn how to:

• Get the month name from a month number. i.e., convert the month number to the month’s full name (like December) and short name (like Dec).
• Get the month’s name from a date.
• Convert month name to month number and vice versa.

How to Get Month Name from Number in Python

Example: Get Month Name from Number in Python

import calendar

num = 2
print('Month Number:', num)

# get month name
print('Month full name is:', calendar.month_name[num])

Output:

Month Number: 2
Month full name is: February

Also, you can get all month’s names using this data attribute.

Example:

import calendar

# get all months name using number
for i in range(1, 13):
    # get month name
    print('Month full name is:', calendar.month_name[i])
    print('Month short name is:', calendar.month_abbr[i])

Get Abbreviated Month Name from Number in Python

If you want to convert the month number to an abbreviated month name, then use the calendar.month_abbr data attribute.

For example, calendar.month_abbr[2] will return Feb as a month name. Note: Feb is the short name of February month.

To get the abbreviated month name from a number, you can use the following code:

import calendar

month_number = 2
print('Month Number:', month_number)
print('Month short name is:', calendar.month_abbr[month_number])

Get Month Name from Datetime in Python

Use the below code to get the month name from a datetime object.

• First, extract the month number from a datetime object using the month attribute.
• Next, use the calendar.month_name[num] attribute to get the month name.

Example:

from datetime import datetime
import calendar

dob = datetime(1994, 8, 24)
print('DateTime:', dob)

# get month number
num = dob.month
print('Month Number:', num)

# get month name
print('Month full name is:', calendar.month_name[num])
print('Month short name is:', calendar.month_abbr[num])

Output:

DateTime: 1994-08-24 00:00:00
Month Number: 8
Month full name is: August
Month short name is: Aug

Get Month Name from Datetime using strftime()

The strftime() method represents datetime in string formats. Use the datetime.strftime(format) to convert a datetime object into a string as per the corresponding format.

The format codes are standard directives for mentioning in which format you want to represent datetime. For example, the %d-%m-%Y %H:%M:%S codes convert date to dd-mm-yyyy hh:mm:ss format.

In our case, we need the month name, so we must use the two directives below.

• %B: Returns the full name of the month. Like, June, March
• %b: Returns the short name of the month (First three characters). Like, Mar, Jun

See more directives for reference.

Example:

from datetime import datetime

# get today's datetime
now = datetime.now()
print('DateTime:', now)

print('Month Number:', now.month)
print('Month full name:', now.strftime('%B'))
print('Month short name:', now.strftime('%b'))

Output:

DateTime: 2022-10-12 15:18:09.688342
Month Number: 10
Month full name: October
Month short name: Oct

Convert Month Name to Month Number in Python

Now, let’s see how to convert a month name to a month number. We will also see how to convert a month number to an abbreviated month name or an abbreviated month name to a month number.

Example:

Using this example, you can map the month name to the month number and vice versa.

import calendar
from datetime import datetime

dob = datetime(1994, 8, 24)
print('DateTime:', dob)

# get month number
num = dob.month
print('Month Number:', num)

# month number to month name
fn = calendar.month_name[num]
print('Month full name is:', fn)

sn = calendar.month_abbr[num]
print('Abbreviated month name is:', sn)

# convert month name to number
# Get month number from full month name
f_mn = list(calendar.month_name).index(fn)
print('Month Number:', f_mn)

# Get month number from abbreviated month name
s_mn = list(calendar.month_abbr).index(sn)
print('Month Number:', s_mn)

Output:

DateTime: 1994-08-24 00:00:00
Month Number: 8

Month full name is: August
Abbreviated month name is: Aug

Month Number: 8
Month Number: 8

Convert Month Number to Month name in pandas

If you are working with a pandas dataframe or series, these examples will help you. First, let’s see how to get the month name of a pandas series of multiple dates.

Use the dt.month_name() function to get the month name in pandas.

Convert pandas datetime to month name

Example:

import pandas as pd

# Create a Series
dates = pd.Series(['2022-1-30', '2022-4-18', '2022-7-23'])

# Create index
idx = [dates[0], dates[1], dates[2]]

# set the index
dates.index = idx

dates = pd.to_datetime(dates)
print('All Dates')
print(dates)

# Get month name
print('Month name')
result = dates.dt.month_name(locale='English')
print(result)

Output:

All Dates
2022-1-30   2022-01-30
2022-4-18   2022-04-18
2022-7-23   2022-07-23
dtype: datetime64[ns]

Month name
2022-1-30    January
2022-4-18      April
2022-7-23       July
dtype: object

Convert a column of month numbers in a dataframe to a month name

If one of the columns of a pandas dataframe contains a month number, then use the below code to convert the month number to the month name.

Example:

import pandas as pd
import calendar

# Create dict object
student_dict = {"name": ["Joe", "Nat", "Harry"], "join_month": [8, 4, 11]}
# Create DataFrame from dict
df = pd.DataFrame(student_dict)
print('Student Details')
print(df)

# get months name
month_names = df['join_month'].apply(lambda x: calendar.month_name[x])
print('Months Name')
print(month_names)

# replace column join_month
df['join_month'] = month_names
print('Student Details')
print(df)

Output:

Student Details
    name  join_month
0    Joe           8
1    Nat           4
2  Harry          11

Months Name
0      August
1       April
2    November
Name: join_month, dtype: object

Student Details
    name join_month
0    Joe     August
1    Nat      April
2  Harry   November