Beaver Moon
Unlike December's Cold Moon, November's name points to an animal's winter preparations rather than cold alone. The Beaver Moon also has a trapping explanation. Almanacs preserve both accounts, while Royal Museums Greenwich notes that the origin is disputed.
, 2026
· 14:53 UTC · Moon in Gemini
Where the name comes from
The Old Farmer's Almanac and the Farmers' Almanac both list Beaver Moon as a traditional name for November's full moon, linking it to beavers preparing for winter. Their accounts describe animals finishing work on lodges and dams or taking shelter after laying up food for the colder months ahead. Another explanation connects the name with the season for trapping beavers for their thick pelts, an association the Farmers' Almanac also includes. Royal Museums Greenwich explicitly notes disagreement over the origin: the name is explained through either human trapping activity or the animals' own preparations, rather than one securely established account.
These seasonal names belong to a Northern Hemisphere setting, where November brings colder weather and, in many regions, the beginning of frozen waterways. The Old Farmer's Almanac explains that traditional moon names often referred to an entire lunar month, not just the night of the full moon. It also describes considerable variation among Indigenous calendars, so the familiar monthly list should not be treated as one shared naming system. The alternative names listed here follow that publication's attributions, preserving distinctions between names concerned with frost, animal behavior, and fish spawning.
Other names for the November full moon
- Frost Moon — Cree, Assiniboine
- Freezing Moon — Anishinaabe
- Deer Rutting Moon — Dakota, Lakota
- Digging/Scratching Moon — Tlingit
- Whitefish Moon — Algonquin
What the season is doing
Across colder parts of the northern United States, bare deciduous trees, frost on grass, and the first snow mark the transition toward winter. The Farmers' Almanac places beavers' work on lodges and dams in this setting, before freezing conditions become established. Other names record different seasonal activity: the Old Farmer's Almanac links Deer Rutting Moon to the mating season and Whitefish Moon to spawning. It explains Digging/Scratching Moon as a reference to bears digging winter dens. Together, these labels describe several changes in woods and waterways rather than a single event that happens everywhere on the night of the full moon.
What the name does not mean
The name does not make this full moon a special astronomical type or give it a distinctive color or size. Beaver Moon is a seasonal label, while terms such as supermoon describe a separate relationship between the full phase and the Moon's distance from Earth. The Old Farmer's Almanac treats those as separate descriptions, even when they apply to the same full moon. Read the animal name as a reference to activity on the ground, not as a prediction of an unusual appearance in the sky.
Beaver Moon dates, 2025 to 2030
Between 2025 and 2030 the Beaver Moon falls as early as November 2 (2028) and as late as November 24 (2026), in Taurus or Gemini: a full moon sits opposite the Sun, which at this time of year is in Scorpio or Sagittarius.
When the name moves
Almanacs disagree here. The Old Farmer's Almanac calls October's full moon the Hunter's Moon unless October holds the Harvest Moon, and in those years (2025 and 2028) it has no Hunter's Moon at all, keeping Beaver Moon for November. timeanddate.com defines the Hunter's Moon as the full moon after the Harvest Moon, which makes it November's in those years: November 5, 2025 and November 2, 2028.
The Beaver Moon is the same disc for everyone. Which part of your own chart it falls across depends on your birth date, and that is what a personal reading looks at. See a reading built from your birth moon →
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When is the Beaver Moon in 2026?
On Tuesday, November 24, 2026, at 9:53 AM EST (14:53 UTC), with the Moon in Gemini. Central, Mountain and Pacific clocks read one, two and three hours earlier.
Is the Beaver Moon a Native American name?
The Old Farmer's Almanac describes it as a Native American term heard by the traveler Jonathan Carver. That report does not establish a name used by all Indigenous peoples or settle its precise origin. The publication's broader account emphasizes that communities had different seasonal calendars and naming traditions.
Can the Beaver Moon also be the Hunter's Moon?
When the Harvest Moon falls in October, timeanddate calls November's full moon the Hunter's Moon because it follows the Harvest Moon. This is a different naming convention from the familiar month-by-month list. The labels can therefore differ between publications without referring to different full moons.
Are the Beaver Moon and Frost Moon the same?
Both names appear in published lists for November's full moon. The Farmers' Almanac includes Frost Moon as an alternative, while the Old Farmer's Almanac attributes that name to Cree and Assiniboine traditions. One label emphasizes beavers and winter preparation; the other emphasizes the deepening cold.
The months either side
Sources for the name and its history: almanac.com · timeanddate.com · farmersalmanac.com · en.wikipedia.org · rmg.co.uk · wickedobscura.com. Dates, times and signs: our own calculation, checked against the US Naval Observatory.