Samhain the 1 November date was a Germanic rather than a Celtic idea. In the 11th century, 2 November became established as All Souls' Day. This created the three-day observance known as Allhallowtide: All Hallows' Eve (31 October), All Hallows' Day (1 November), and All Souls' Day (2 November). It is widely believed that many of the modern secular customs of All Hallows' Eve (or Halloween) were influenced by the festival of Samhain. Samhain and Samhain-based festivals are held by some Neopagans. As there are many kinds of Neopaganism, their Samhain celebrations can be very different despite the shared name. Some
Samhain century. Since the later 20th century, Celtic neopagans and Wiccans have observed Samhain, or something based on it, as a religious holiday. Neopagans in the Southern Hemisphere often celebrate Samhain at the other end of the year (about 1 May). In Modern Irish as well as Scottish Gaelic the name is . Older forms of the word include the Scottish Gaelic spellings and . In Manx Gaelic the name is . These are also the names of November in each language, shortened from "Mí na Samhna" (Irish), "Mì na Samhna" (Scottish Gaelic) and "Mee Houney" (Manx), meaning "month of Samhain".