Mayan Calendar Calculator

The Mayan calendar is a system of calendars used by the ancient Maya civilization of Mesoamerica. Rather than a single calendar, the Maya used multiple interlocking calendar systems simultaneously. The three most important are the Tzolk'in (260-day sacred calendar), the Haab' (365-day solar calendar), and the Long Count — a continuous count of days from a creation date in 3114 BCE.

The Tzolk'in consists of a cycle of 20 named days combined with a cycle of 13 numbers, creating 260 unique day combinations (20 × 13). It was used for religious ceremonies, divination, and timing of agricultural and ritual events. The Haab' consists of 18 months of 20 days each, plus a short month (Wayeb') of 5 "unlucky" days, totaling 365 days.

The Long Count is the linear calendar — a continuous count of days since the creation date (4 Ajaw 8 Kumk'u in the correlation most widely accepted, corresponding to August 11, 3114 BCE in the proleptic Gregorian calendar). It uses a base-20 positional notation: kin (days), winal (20 days), tun (360 days), k'atun (7,200 days), and b'ak'tun (144,000 days).

The conversion uses the Julian Day Number as an intermediate step, then applies the Goodman-Martínez-Thompson (GMT) correlation to find the Maya date.

The Tzolk'in has 20 named day signs that cycle alongside a count of 1–13, creating 260 unique combinations before repeating. It was used primarily for ritual purposes. The 20 day signs are: Imix, Ik, Akbal, Kan, Chicchan, Cimi, Manik, Lamat, Muluc, Oc, Chuen, Eb, Ben, Ix, Men, Cib, Caban, Etznab, Cauac, Ahau.

The Haab' year has 19 "months": 18 months of 20 days (Pop, Uo, Zip, Zotz, Tzec, Xul, Yaxkin, Mol, Chen, Yax, Zac, Ceh, Mac, Kankin, Muan, Pax, Kayab, Cumku) plus the 5-day Wayeb' month, which was considered an unlucky transitional period when the gods rested and supernatural forces were at their most threatening.

When combined, the Tzolk'in and Haab' create a Calendar Round of 52 Haab' years (18,980 days) — the period before the same combination of Tzolk'in day and Haab' date repeats. The Calendar Round was the primary dating system for most events in Maya inscriptions.

1. Select a Gregorian Date: Use the date picker to choose any date.
2. View Mayan Date: The equivalent Long Count, Tzolk'in day name and number, and Haab' date are displayed.
3. Understand the Components: The result shows all three calendar components — Long Count position, Tzolk'in sacred day, and Haab' solar date.

The Maya calendar system was one of the most sophisticated in the ancient world. Maya astronomers tracked the cycles of Venus, Mars, and the Moon with remarkable precision, encoding these astronomical cycles into their calendar system. The Dresden Codex — one of the few surviving Maya books — contains detailed Venus tables accurate to within minutes per year.

Archaeological dating of Maya monuments relies on the Long Count dates carved into stelae (stone monuments). Deciphering these dates, using the GMT correlation, has allowed historians to establish the chronology of Maya history, including when specific cities were founded, when rulers came to power, and when key historical events occurred.

The Maya "2012 phenomenon" arose from the Long Count date 13.0.0.0.0 (December 21, 2012), which marked the completion of a b'ak'tun cycle — similar in concept to a millennium change. Despite popular misconceptions, Maya scholars confirmed this was a celebration of completion and renewal, not a prediction of apocalypse. The Long Count simply rolled over to 0.0.0.0.0 of the next b'ak'tun, much as our calendar rolled from 1999 to 2000.