may comes between april and june and is the fifth month of the year in the gregorian calendar. it is one of seven months to have 31 days. in the older roman calendar, may was the third month of the year. it is a spring month in the northern hemisphere and an autumn month in the southern hemisphere. in each hemisphere, it is the seasonal equivalent of november in the other. may is likely to have been named after the roman goddess maia, though there is a theory that may might have its name from the latin "maiores", meaning "seniors". the same theory suggests that june would then be named from "iuniores", meaning "juniors".