Back to Function Index

MONTHNAME()

Overview

MONTHNAME() extracts the month name from a date expression, returning it as a character string. This function is useful for creating human-readable date displays, reports, and labels where the full month name is preferred over numeric representations.

Function Format

MONTHNAME(date)

Return Value

MONTHNAME() returns a character string, or an empty string for NULL dates

Examples

MONTHNAME(DATE("2024-07-04")) = "July"        (July 4th)
MONTHNAME(DATE(2024, 12, 25)) = "December"    (Christmas)
MONTHNAME(DATE("2024-01-01")) = "January"     (New Year's)
MONTHNAME(DATE("2024-03-15")) = "March"       (Ides of March)
MONTHNAME(CURDATE()) = "March"                 (if run in March)
MONTHNAME(NULL) = ""                           (NULL handling)

Notes

• Important behaviors:
  • Returns the full month name as a string
  • Returns an empty string for NULL input
  • Works with various date formats
  • Month names are in English
  • Ignores time components
• Common use cases include:
  • Report headers and labels
  • Date formatting
  • Display purposes
  • Data presentation
  • User interfaces
• The function can be used with:
  • Date literals
  • Date columns
  • Date functions
  • Date expressions
• This function is often used in combination with other date functions like YEAR(), DAY(), and DATEPART() for formatted date displays.
• For numeric month values, use the MONTH() function instead.

See Also

• MONTH()
• YEAR()
• DAY()
• DATE()