# Genders for the Sun and the Moon **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 15, 2013, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/genders-for-the-sun-and-the-moon/647319 "2013-01-15T19:31:55Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![smaje1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e47774/32.png) [@smaje1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/smaje1)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2013, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/genders-for-the-sun-and-the-moon/647319/1 "2013-01-15T19:31:55Z")
Does anyone have citeable information about whether the Sun and the Moon are considered either masculine or feminine? I’ve always been led to believe that the Moon is a “she,” but I’m not so sure about the Sun. And I’d like to have a cite to back it up. Thanks! ---
**Author:** ![kambuckta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/53a042/32.png) [@kambuckta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kambuckta)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2013, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/genders-for-the-sun-and-the-moon/647319/2 "2013-01-15T19:38:59Z")
Huh? Are you serious? :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![robert\_columbia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e79b87/32.png) [@robert\_columbia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robert_columbia)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2013, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/genders-for-the-sun-and-the-moon/647319/3 "2013-01-15T19:41:35Z")
In Spanish, the moon is feminine (la luna) and the sun is masculine (el sol). ---
**Author:** ![Inner\_Stickler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inner_stickler/32/318_2.png) [@Inner\_Stickler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inner_Stickler)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2013, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/genders-for-the-sun-and-the-moon/647319/4 "2013-01-15T19:45:04Z")
I don’t really understand. In languages with gendered nouns, there’s a rough correlation between the gender of the noun and anthropomorphic representations of said nouns if that helps. ---
**Author:** ![Aji\_de\_Gallina](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aji_de_gallina/32/260_2.png) [@Aji\_de\_Gallina](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aji_de_Gallina)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2013, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/genders-for-the-sun-and-the-moon/647319/5 "2013-01-15T19:50:28Z")
In Quechua too, sun=male moon=female ---
**Author:** ![smaje1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e47774/32.png) [@smaje1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/smaje1)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2013, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/genders-for-the-sun-and-the-moon/647319/6 "2013-01-15T19:53:09Z")
To clarify… (and yes, this is a serious question. My goodness! I don’t post about frivolity, sirs and madams.) I’ve had a response from another friend about this, and she pointed out that in classical literature, the moon is linked with Artemis (huntress goddess) and the sun with Apollo (male god). Also, I’ve read many mentions of the “Goddess Moon.” So from a literature point of view, if I was writing in a romantic or poetic way about the moon, I might write about “The moon is a beautiful orb in the sky; she shines her light on all.” In that instance, I am assigning the moon an actual gender. I was just wondering if this was official at all, and if the sun has a corresponding gender. Sorry if it sounded like I was asking if the Moon had lady bits and the Sun had man junk. ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2013, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/genders-for-the-sun-and-the-moon/647319/7 "2013-01-15T19:53:38Z")
The language examples are a good reference but you don’t need it. Just look at them. It’s obvious that the sun is a boy and the moon is a girl. ---
**Author:** ![DrFidelius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drfidelius/32/3447_2.png) [@DrFidelius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrFidelius)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2013, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/genders-for-the-sun-and-the-moon/647319/8 "2013-01-15T19:56:04Z")
Why else would we refer to “The man \*in \*the Moon” unless the Moon was something a man would want to get into? Silly question. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2013, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/genders-for-the-sun-and-the-moon/647319/9 "2013-01-15T19:59:48Z")
> [@smaje1](#): > > I was just wondering if this was official at all In what way _could_ something like this be “official”? It’s not like there’s some sort of universal governing body that determines these things. ---
**Author:** ![smaje1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e47774/32.png) [@smaje1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/smaje1)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2013, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/genders-for-the-sun-and-the-moon/647319/10 "2013-01-15T20:02:27Z")
Wow, I was expecting straighter answers from General Questions. ---
**Author:** ![Simplicio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c37758/32.png) [@Simplicio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Simplicio)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2013, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/genders-for-the-sun-and-the-moon/647319/11 "2013-01-15T20:05:24Z")
Wikipeida has a list of [list of lunar deities](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lunar_deity) that gives gender. Its hardly universal that the moon is personified by a female deity. The article on solar deities doesn’t have a similar list, but does include a discussion which mentions research suggesting that neither gender is particularly over-represented. I suspect the sun=man, moon=female thing in romance languages mentioned by dopers is simply due to the fact that that’s the gender of their respective deities in greco-roman mythologies. ---
**Author:** ![Simplicio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c37758/32.png) [@Simplicio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Simplicio)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2013, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/genders-for-the-sun-and-the-moon/647319/12 "2013-01-15T20:12:19Z")
> [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > In what way _could_ something like this be “official”? It’s not like there’s some sort of universal governing body that determines these things. Eh, I actually expected when I looked up the wikipedia article from my last post to find that moon goddesses and the gender of the word moon would be overwhelmingly female, due to the coincidence of the length of lunar and menstrual cycles. Turns out that’s not the case, but its hardly inconceivable that it could’ve been. If it was true, I’m sure some anthropologists would’ve written up some citable papers on it, and that’d be the “official” answer. As it is, the official answer seems to be: there isn’t any strong cross-cultural pattern to the gender of personifications of the sun or moon. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2013, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/genders-for-the-sun-and-the-moon/647319/13 "2013-01-15T20:16:37Z")
> [@smaje1](#): > > Wow, I was expecting straighter answers from General Questions. You got better questions than your question deserved. ---
**Author:** ![Simplicio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c37758/32.png) [@Simplicio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Simplicio)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2013, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/genders-for-the-sun-and-the-moon/647319/14 "2013-01-15T20:21:41Z")
> [@panache45](#): > > You got better questions than your question deserved. His question was fine. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2013, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/genders-for-the-sun-and-the-moon/647319/15 "2013-01-15T20:48:42Z")
> [@Simplicio](#): > > His question was fine. He’s looking for something “official.” Who would “officially” decide such a thing? Does the U.N have an opinion on this? And he seems to be looking for a Western resource. Doesn’t the rest of the world matter? ---
**Author:** ![njtt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ecd19e/32.png) [@njtt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/njtt)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2013, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/genders-for-the-sun-and-the-moon/647319/16 "2013-01-15T20:49:58Z")
> [@Simplicio](#): > > Eh, I actually expected when I looked up the wikipedia article from my last post to find that moon goddesses and the gender of the word moon would be overwhelmingly female, due to the coincidence of the length of lunar and menstrual cycles. > > Turns out that’s not the case, but its hardly inconceivable that it could’ve been. If it was true, I’m sure some anthropologists would’ve written up some citable papers on it, and that’d be the “official” answer. > > As it is, the official answer seems to be: there isn’t any strong cross-cultural pattern to the gender of personifications of the sun or moon. Right, it is culture relative, but in terms of the main stream of “western culture”, _our_ culture, there is a fairly clear trend, surely. Male Sun gods go back before the Greeks and Romans to the Egyptians, surely. (I am not sure offhand if the Egyptians made the Moon female, but others in our cultural lineage certainly did). ---
**Author:** ![Noone\_Special](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/noone_special/32/2863_2.png) [@Noone\_Special](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Noone_Special)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2013, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/genders-for-the-sun-and-the-moon/647319/17 "2013-01-15T21:08:00Z")
In Hebrew, both Sun and Moon can be either. This is actually quite rare in Hebrew, which is a very strongly gendered language. Sun - usually _shemesh_ which is one of the few words in Hebrew that can take either gender without modification; or (rarely) _hama_, which is feminine. _Shemesh_ in modern Hebrew is **usually** treated as feminine, but not necessarily. Moon – _yareah_ or _levana_, both of which are feminine; or (again, rarely) _sahar_ which is masculine. So – either one can be either gender, but in common speech both of them are usually female. ---
**Author:** ![naita](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/naita/32/5862_2.png) [@naita](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/naita)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2013, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/genders-for-the-sun-and-the-moon/647319/18 "2013-01-15T21:11:46Z")
In tri-gender Norwegian (masculine, feminine, neuter instead of two-gender common and neuter) the sun is feminine and the moon masculine. ---
**Author:** ![Simplicio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c37758/32.png) [@Simplicio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Simplicio)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2013, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/genders-for-the-sun-and-the-moon/647319/19 "2013-01-15T21:12:19Z")
> [@njtt](#): > > Right, it is culture relative, but in terms of the main stream of “western culture”, _our_ culture, there is a fairly clear trend, surely. Male Sun gods go back before the Greeks and Romans to the Egyptians, surely. (I am not sure offhand if the Egyptians made the Moon female, but others in our cultural lineage certainly did). Depends on how you want to define the “main stream of western culture”. There are germanic, norse and slavic cultures that don’t have female moon goddesses (and IIRC, moon is a male noun in German). So it certainly isn’t generally true amongst indo-European cultures, European cultures outside of Greco-Rome. > [@panache](#): > > He’s looking for something “official.” Who would “officially” decide such a thing? Does the U.N have an opinion on this? Answered in my previous post. ---
**Author:** ![Leo\_Bloom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leo_bloom/32/10377_2.png) [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2013, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/genders-for-the-sun-and-the-moon/647319/20 "2013-01-15T21:36:55Z")
> [@panache45](#): > > He’s looking for something “official.” Who would “officially” decide such a thing?.. Us. That is why we we have such awesome responsibility. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/genders-for-the-sun-and-the-moon/647319.md?page=2)