JUNO. The name Iuno is a derivative of iun- and the ending -on-. It is very likely a shortened form of iuven-, as found in iunix ("heifer") and the comparative iunior ("younger"). The derivative Iunius (mensis), or "month of June," was linked by the ancients sometimes to iunior (Varro, De lingua Latina 6.33) and sometimes to Iūno (Servius, Ad Georgica 1.43). Uni, the name of an Etruscan goddess, is borrowed from the Latin Iuno, just as Ani, the name of an Etruscan god, comes from Ianus.

The goddess personifies creative youth. She oversees birth, both on a human and on a heavenly level. Upon beginning labor, women call upon Juno Lucina ("she who brings into light"), who is honored at the Matronalia of 1 March (cf. Plautus, Aulularia 692; Terence, Adelphoe 487). Juno Covella is the patroness, along with Janus, of each month's calends in order to further the labor of the...