The Origins of the Secular Names for the Days of the Week

the origins of the secular names for the days of the week

We saw how the Hebrew weekdays have no names (except Shabbat). The secular weekday names, however, have very different and unbiblical origins. Every day name is associated with a planet and a pagan god.

Abbreviations of Languages Used
Dan. - Danish	L. - Latin
D. - Dutch or Belgic	Sax. - Saxon or Anglo-Saxon
Fr. - French	Sp. - Spanish
G. - German	Sw. - Swedish
Ir. - Irish, Hiberno-Celtic, and Gaelic	W. - Welsh
It. - Italian

The information (shown in black) in the "Origins of Name" column comes from Noah Webster's original 1828 American Dictionary of the English Language.

Weekday	Planet God Name	Origins of Name
Sunday	Sun Sun god	[Sax. sunna-dæg; G. sonntag; D. zondag; Dan. söndag; Sw. sondag; so called because this day was anciently dedicated to the sun, or to its worship.] The first day of the week.
Monday	Moon Moon god	[Sax. monandæg; D. maandag; G. nontag; moon and day; being formerly sacred to that planet.] The second day of the week.
Tuesday	Mars Tiw	[Sw. Tisdag; Dan. Tirsdag; D. Dingsdag; G. Dingstag; Sax. Tiwæsdæg or Tuesdæg, from Tig, Tiig, or Tuisco, the Mars of our ancestors, the deity that presided over combats, strife and litigation. Hence Tuesday is court day, assize day; the day for combat or commencing litigation. The third day of the week.
Wednesday	Mercury Woden	[Sax. Wodensdæg; Woden's day; Sw. Odenstag or Onsdag; from Wodin or Odin, a deity or chief among the northern nations of Europe.] The fourth day of the week.
Thursday	Jupiter Thor	[Dan. Torsdag, that is, Thor's day, the day consecrated to Thor, the god of thunder answering to the Jove of the Greeks and Romans, L. dies Jovis; It. Giovedi; Sp. Jueves; Fr. Jeudi. So in G. donnerstag, D. donderdag, thunderday. This Thor is from the root of W. taran, thunder; taraw, to strike, hit or produce a shock; Gaelic, Ir. toirn, a great noise; toirneas, thunder. The root of the word signifies to drive, to fush, to strike. In Sw. thorndon is thunder.] The fifth day of the week
Friday	Venus goddess Frigg or Freia	[Sax. frig-dæg; G. freitag; D. vrydag; from Frigga, the Venus of the north; D. vrouw, G. frau, Ir. frag, a woman.] The sixth day of the week, formerly consecrated to Frigga.
Saturday	Saturn Roman god Saturn	[Sax. Sæter-dag; D. Saturdag; Saturn's day.] The last day of the week; ~~the day next preceding the sabbath.~~ The day of the Sabbath.