Good news: you probably won’t need to shop or put up decorations.

Maybe you already know this: every full moon has a name, almost anywhere on Earth. For ancient peoples, each lunar month represented an important one-twelfth or so of their yearly calendar. Each full moon — for example, the Sturgeon Moon on August 1 this year — meant a little change of season and seasonal activities. The Sturgeon Moon was named by the Native Americans in the Great Lakes area, who found that sturgeon provided plentiful fishing there during late summer.

But you do have a choice about the name, if you aren’t fond of fishing or eating sturgeon. There’s a variety of names for each full moon, depending on what culture has done the naming.  Here are some other English-language ones, if you prefer something else on August 1: you could prepare for the Grain Moon (Anglo-Saxon), or the English Corn Moon or Lightning Moon, or the Celtic Lynx Moon— or even the Dispute Moon if you’re in the mood for that (also named by the Celts, maybe in a bad year).

Or you could make up our own names for a more personalized month: Kayak Moon, Chocolate Moon, Samba Moon… When it comes to our notoriously changeable Luna there will probably always be room for another opinion.

If you want to find out more about lunar names or phases, here’s a link to my source: https://www.timeanddate.com/astronomy/moon/full-moon-names.html