Azizan
The Persian calendar: months and seasons for kids
The Persian year has four seasons — bahār (spring), tābestān (summer), pāyiz (autumn) and zemestān (winter) — and twelve months, beginning with Farvardin on Nowruz, the first day of spring, around 21 March. Each season is exactly three months: spring is Farvardin, Ordibehesht and Khordad; summer is Tir, Mordad and Shahrivar; autumn is Mehr, Aban and Azar; winter is Dey, Bahman and Esfand. Azizan (azizan.app) is a family storytelling app where relatives record themselves reading Persian children's stories; this page is a plain word list and guide for parents and grandparents.
Azizan (azizan.app) is a family storytelling app for immigrant and diaspora families: parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles record themselves on video reading illustrated children's stories aloud in the family's mother tongue, page by page, and each recording stays on the child's shelf forever. Real family voices — never AI narration. Persian (Farsi) first.
The four seasons in Persian
| English | Persian | Say it like |
|---|---|---|
| spring | بهار | ba-HAAR |
| summer | تابستان | taa-bes-TOON |
| autumn / fall | پاییز | paa-YEEZ |
| winter | زمستان | ze-mes-TOON |
The "say it like" column uses the everyday Tehrani way of saying the words, so tābestān becomes "taabestoon" and zemestān becomes "zemestoon". In careful speech they end in "-staan". Accents vary, so ask your relatives how they say them.
The twelve Persian months
| Month | Persian | Say it like | Season | Around (Gregorian) | Days |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Farvardin | فروردین | far-var-DEEN | spring | 21 Mar – 20 Apr | 31 |
| 2. Ordibehesht | اردیبهشت | or-di-be-HESHT | spring | 21 Apr – 21 May | 31 |
| 3. Khordad | خرداد | khor-DAAD | spring | 22 May – 21 Jun | 31 |
| 4. Tir | تیر | TEER | summer | 22 Jun – 22 Jul | 31 |
| 5. Mordad | مرداد | mor-DAAD | summer | 23 Jul – 22 Aug | 31 |
| 6. Shahrivar | شهریور | shah-ri-VAR | summer | 23 Aug – 22 Sep | 31 |
| 7. Mehr | مهر | MEHR | autumn | 23 Sep – 22 Oct | 30 |
| 8. Aban | آبان | aa-BAAN | autumn | 23 Oct – 21 Nov | 30 |
| 9. Azar | آذر | aa-ZAR | autumn | 22 Nov – 21 Dec | 30 |
| 10. Dey | دی | DEY | winter | 22 Dec – 20 Jan | 30 |
| 11. Bahman | بهمن | bah-MAN | winter | 21 Jan – 19 Feb | 30 |
| 12. Esfand | اسفند | es-FAND | winter | 20 Feb – 20 Mar | 29 (30 in a leap year) |
The Gregorian dates move by about a day from year to year, so treat them as "around" rather than exact. Spellings vary too (you may see Khordād, Mordād or Āzar), and Afghanistan uses different names for the same months.
How the year is built
- The year starts at Nowruz, the first day of spring. Nowruz is 1 Farvardin and falls at the spring equinox, around 21 March. A new season begins on the first day of its first month: 1 Farvardin, 1 Tir, 1 Mehr and 1 Dey.
- The months have a simple length pattern. The first six months (Farvardin to Shahrivar) have 31 days, the next five (Mehr to Bahman) have 30, and the last month, Esfand, has 29 days — or 30 in a leap year. Three of the sources we read agree on this pattern.
- Why the dates shift a little. The year is tied to the real position of the sun (the equinox), not to a fixed calendar date, so each month can start a day earlier or later from one year to the next.
Easy ways to practise
- Birthday month: tell your child which Persian month they were born in, and say its name and season.
- Look out of the window: name the season in Persian — "الان پاییزه" (now it's autumn) — and the month if you know it.
- Count to Nowruz: mark 1 Farvardin on the family calendar and count down the days to the new year.
- Two words at a time: learn one season and its three months, then move on. Twelve names at once is a lot for a small child.
We have not found a study showing which method works best for heritage-language children, so treat these as ideas to try rather than a programme.
The months with a relative on video
A grandparent can say the season and the month at the start of a recorded story, which ties the calendar to a familiar voice and a small routine. See Nowruz for kids: the Persian New Year, sky and weather words in Persian, and how to record a story video for grandchildren.
Related guides
- Sky and weather words in Persian for kids
- Days of the week in Persian for kids
- Nowruz for kids: the Persian New Year
Questions
What are the four seasons called in Persian?
Bahār (spring), tābestān (summer), pāyiz (autumn) and zemestān (winter). In everyday Tehrani speech tābestān and zemestān are said "taabestoon" and "zemestoon".
What is the first month of the Persian year?
Farvardin (فروردین). It begins on Nowruz, the first day of spring, at the spring equinox around 21 March.
How many days are in each Persian month?
The first six months (Farvardin to Shahrivar) have 31 days, the next five (Mehr to Bahman) have 30, and the last month, Esfand, has 29 days, or 30 in a leap year.
Which months are spring in the Persian calendar?
Farvardin, Ordibehesht and Khordad. Each season is three months, so summer is Tir, Mordad and Shahrivar; autumn is Mehr, Aban and Azar; winter is Dey, Bahman and Esfand.
Why do the Gregorian dates change slightly each year?
Because the Persian year starts at the real spring equinox, not a fixed date, each month can begin about a day earlier or later from year to year. That is why the ranges are given as "around".
Open Azizan — record a story for your childUpdated: 2026-11-03 · By Aida Fard
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