# What's the first day of the week? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [March 31, 2013, 12:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-first-day-of-the-week/654417 "2013-03-31T12:44:42Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Cerealbox](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7ab992/32.png) [@Cerealbox](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cerealbox)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2013, 12:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-first-day-of-the-week/654417/1 "2013-03-31T12:44:42Z")
In many countries, calenders start the week on Monday. In others, sunday is the first day of the week. I remember someone once saying that that it was originally “weekends,” as in one on each end of the week, but I can’t confirm that. Etymonline simply says that the weekend was originally the time from saturday evening to monday morning and that the meaning has shifted to mean Saturday and Sunday. So that makes even less sense if sunday is the first day of the week, because weekend encompassed some of the last day of the week and some of the first day of the week. So what’s the deal? What’s the first day of the week and why? ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2013, 2:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-first-day-of-the-week/654417/2 "2013-03-31T14:16:57Z")
Seriously? The first day is any day you want to start counting with. There’s no official first day high court to make rulings on this. ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2013, 2:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-first-day-of-the-week/654417/3 "2013-03-31T14:19:23Z")
Sunday ---
**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:** [March 31, 2013, 2:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-first-day-of-the-week/654417/4 "2013-03-31T14:19:54Z")
The weekend is the longer-than-24hours period between the end of the last workday of the week and the start of the next workday. Without being an expert and referring to sources I would guess that Sunday as the first day of the week is the original in Christian culture, based on Saturday/Sabbat being the last day, and that those of us using Monday as the first days do so with the same reasoning as that behind naming Saturday and Sunday the weekend. The non-working days are the weekend. Saturday and Sunday being the “Weekends” sounds like silly folk etymology to explained the perceived discrepancy between two seperate views of the week, the everyday worker’s view and the official calendarmaker/church view. ---
**Author:** ![steviep24](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/5f9b8f/32.png) [@steviep24](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/steviep24)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2013, 2:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-first-day-of-the-week/654417/5 "2013-03-31T14:20:52Z")
American calendars usually start the week on Sunday. In the business world the week begins with Monday. ---
**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:** [March 31, 2013, 2:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-first-day-of-the-week/654417/6 "2013-03-31T14:28:29Z")
[This question seems to get asked a lot here.](https://www.google.com/webhp?sourceid=navclient&ie=UTF-8#hl=en&safe=off&sclient=psy-ab&q=%22first+day+of+the+week%22+site:straightdope.com&oq=%22first+day+of+the+week%22+site:straightdope.com&gs_l=hp.3...8985.11662.1.14511.8.7.0.0.0.0.10171.43432.2-2j5-1j0j3j1j4.11.0...0.0...1c.1.7.psy-ab.KM7zlI5V00k&pbx=1&bav=on.2,or.r_qf.&bvm=bv.44442042,d.eWU&fp=aec810c57fc5a1bf&biw=1280&bih=656) ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2013, 2:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-first-day-of-the-week/654417/7 "2013-03-31T14:28:52Z")
According to the international standard ISO 8601 Monday is day 1 of the 7 day week. ---
**Author:** ![Isilder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/cc9497/32.png) [@Isilder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Isilder)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2013, 11:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-first-day-of-the-week/654417/8 "2013-04-01T11:40:00Z")
> [@naita](#): > > Without being an expert and referring to sources I would guess that Sunday as the first day of the week is the original in Christian culture, based on Saturday/Sabbat being the last day No such thing as “Christian Culture”. The romans and jews killed the christians who had the one true religion, apart from some tiny few. Then the Roman Emporer heard of a more acceptable version and ran with it, not realising he was forgetting that the one true religion started as a suicide cult… There is no culture to transfer .. lets look at Circumcision.. if Christians have a culture, then christian USA would get it from their founding fathers… > **[Prevalence of circumcision](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prevalence_of_circumcision)** > > The prevalence of circumcision is the percentage of males in a given population who have been circumcised, with the procedure most commonly being performed as a part of preventive healthcare, a religious obligation, or cultural practice. > Since 2010, both the World Health Organization and Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS have been promoting a higher rate of circumcision prevalence as a prevention against HIV transmission and some STIs in areas with high HIV transmission and low circu... Circumcision in christian europe ? nope. It only re-occurs in the USA as the jewish doctors take control. ---
**Author:** ![Isilder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/cc9497/32.png) [@Isilder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Isilder)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2013, 11:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-first-day-of-the-week/654417/9 "2013-04-01T11:47:47Z")
> [@don\_t\_ask](#): > > According to the international standard ISO 8601 Monday is day 1 of the 7 day week. 8601 won’t become popular, it is fatally flawed due to dispresect of New Years Day. "If 1 January is on a Friday, Saturday or Sunday, it is in week 52 or 53 of the previous year (there is no week 00). " ---
**Author:** ![Svejk\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ea666f/32.png) [@Svejk\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Svejk_1)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2013, 11:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-first-day-of-the-week/654417/10 "2013-04-01T11:53:58Z")
dispresect? ---
**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:** [April 1, 2013, 12:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-first-day-of-the-week/654417/11 "2013-04-01T12:30:01Z")
> [@Isilder](#): > > No such thing as “Christian Culture”. The romans and jews killed the christians who had the one true religion, apart from some tiny few. Then the Roman Emporer heard of a more acceptable version and ran with it, not realising he was forgetting that the one true religion started as a suicide cult… > > There is no culture to transfer .. > > lets look at Circumcision.. if Christians have a culture, then christian USA would get it from their founding fathers… > > [Prevalence of circumcision - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prevalence_of_circumcision) > > Circumcision in christian europe ? nope. > It only re-occurs in the USA as the jewish doctors take control. The seven day week with Sunday as the first day is indubitably a part of the Christianity of the western world that’s existed for the last 1500 years. Its origin makes no difference to the OPs question, except in the sense of tracing the seven day week further back. If you want to discuss your own personal definition of “Christian culture” I suggest you start a new thread on that since it’s completely irrelevant to this one. ---
**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:** [April 1, 2013, 12:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-first-day-of-the-week/654417/12 "2013-04-01T12:38:50Z")
> [@Isilder](#): > > 8601 won’t become popular, it is fatally flawed due to dispresect of New Years Day. > > "If 1 January is on a Friday, Saturday or Sunday, it is in week 52 or 53 of the previous year (there is no week 00). " Having a week 53 with New Years Day in it is disrespect? How about you show how unpopular it is by listing entities refusing to use it v. those using it. ---
**Author:** ![C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b2d939/32.png) [@C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/C_K_Dexter_Haven)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2013, 12:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-first-day-of-the-week/654417/13 "2013-04-01T12:49:21Z")
For the Jews and early Christians, the seven-day week started on Sunday – of course, it wasn’t called “Sunday,” it was “Yom Rishon” = “Day One” in Hebrew. The sabbath was the seventh day (what we now call Saturday.) Christians added Sunday as a day of celebration because that’s the day of resurrection, they called it “Lord’s Day.” Over time, the Christian leadership decided that two holidays each week was too much, so they conflated the two onto Sunday. By the way, there’s a certain illogic, since the third day of the week is called Two’s-Day, and the fifth day is called Third’s-Day. (Sorry, but note the date of my post.) ---
**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:** [April 1, 2013, 12:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-first-day-of-the-week/654417/14 "2013-04-01T12:54:48Z")
> [@C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](#): > > By the way, there’s a certain illogic, since the third day of the week is called Two’s-Day, and the fifth day is called Third’s-Day. (Sorry, but note the date of my post.) Well it goes with the days of the months. January is after all Latin for “second month”. ---
**Author:** ![Malacandra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Malacandra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malacandra)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2013, 1:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-first-day-of-the-week/654417/15 "2013-04-01T13:01:23Z")
We need to go back to making 25th March the official New Year’s Day. Among other benefits, this would mean that September would indeed be “seventh-month” and so on. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2013, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-first-day-of-the-week/654417/16 "2013-04-01T14:54:26Z")
> [@Isilder](#): > > No such thing as “Christian Culture”. The romans and jews killed the christians who had the one true religion, apart from some tiny few. Then the Roman Emporer heard of a more acceptable version and ran with it, not realising he was forgetting that the one true religion started as a suicide cult… > > There is no culture to transfer .. > > lets look at Circumcision.. if Christians have a culture, then christian USA would get it from their founding fathers… > > [Prevalence of circumcision - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prevalence_of_circumcision) > > Circumcision in christian europe ? nope. > It only re-occurs in the USA as the jewish doctors take control. **Moderating** **Isildur** , this is irrelevant to the question in the OP. If you wish to discuss any of these points, open a new thread in the Great Debates forum. Colibri General Questions Moderator ---
**Author:** ![AdamF](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/adamf/32/6246_2.png) [@AdamF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AdamF)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2013, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-first-day-of-the-week/654417/17 "2013-04-01T15:26:06Z")
> [@C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](#): > > For the Jews and early Christians, the seven-day week started on Sunday – of course, it wasn’t called “Sunday,” it was “Yom Rishon” = “Day One” in Hebrew. The sabbath was the seventh day (what we now call Saturday.) Christians added Sunday as a day of celebration because that’s the day of resurrection, they called it “Lord’s Day.” Over time, the Christian leadership decided that two holidays each week was too much, so they conflated the two onto Sunday. And Sunday became the 7th day of the week in most of Europe, England being a prominent exception. ---
**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:** [April 1, 2013, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-first-day-of-the-week/654417/18 "2013-04-01T16:10:34Z")
About “weekend” in Edwardian England and in French language: In _In Search of Lost Time_ (the novel previously known as _Remembrance of Things Past_), Odette, the near-courtesan, who is the most _au courant_ of fad-followers, likes to pepper her speech with Anglicisms. She says the word “weekend” in English. What would be the English people’s twist on the word that it elicited such a _frisson_ in her that the word could plausibly have no exact equivalent in French? Ie, why would she think that was _le mot juste_, what was its _nuance_, its _je ne sais quoi_ in French? ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2013, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-first-day-of-the-week/654417/19 "2013-04-01T16:27:00Z")
[QUOTE=John] 20 Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene went to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the entrance. [/QUOTE] Seems appropriate, given the timing. ---
**Author:** ![Svejk\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ea666f/32.png) [@Svejk\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Svejk_1)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2013, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-first-day-of-the-week/654417/20 "2013-04-01T21:02:13Z")
> [@naita](#): > > Well it goes with the days of the months. January is after all Latin for “second month”. No it doesn’t ([cite](http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=January), [cite](http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/January), [cite](http://www.thefreedictionary.com/january)). Maybe I should be detecting a whoosh here though, as the **CKDH** post that this is in response too is tongue-in-cheek. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-first-day-of-the-week/654417.md?page=2)