Now that you have familiarized yourself with the name of the French months, you find an ancestor who has a birth, marriage, or death record in months that you don’t recognize. Welcome to the Calendrier républicain (Republican Calendar)!

“What do you mean, another calendar?? I learned the months in French, and now, you are telling me there is another calendar?”

I hear you loud and clear!! And guess what… not only new months, but also new years! Oh joy! I’ve included the months and years of the Republican calendar on the Glossary page.

The French Republican calendar (or French Revolutionary calendar) was created during the Révolution française (French Revolution). The calendar itself (dates) is a little tricky (you’ll find information on the Wikipedia pages linked above). It was used:

• from 1792 to 1804 during the Première République (First Republic)
• from 1804 until 1806 during the Premier Empire (which lasted from 1804-1814)
• very briefly during the Commune de Paris (March 18-May 28, 1871).

It started on September 22, 1792 (1er vendémiaire an (Year) I), the day after the proclamation of the abolition of the monarchy and birth of the French First Republic (Première République, or République française). It was really implemented on October 6, 1793 (15 vendémiaire an II).

Napoléon Bonaparte (Napoléon Ier) abolished the calendar on 9 September 1805. The Gregorian calendar started again on 1 January 1806.

So don’t worry: you will use the “regular” (Gregorian) calendar a lot more than you will use the Republican calendar.