why is it called presidents day
It’s called “Presidents Day” because a holiday that originally honored only George Washington’s birthday gradually expanded in practice to include Abraham Lincoln and, in many places, all U.S. presidents.
Quick Scoop: The Short Version
- The official federal holiday is still named Washington’s Birthday , not “Presidents Day.”
- Over time, stores, states, and schools started using the term “Presidents Day” to honor both Washington and Lincoln , and sometimes all presidents.
- The name stuck in everyday language, even though Congress never formally renamed the federal holiday.
How It Started: Washington’s Birthday
Right after George Washington died in 1799, Americans began informally celebrating his birthday, February 22, as a special day.
In the late 1800s, it became one of the earliest federal holidays, officially called Washington’s Birthday , meant to honor the first president and his role in founding the United States.
Why the Name Shifted
In the 1960s, Congress passed the Uniform Monday Holiday Act , moving several holidays (including Washington’s Birthday) to Mondays to create three‑day weekends.
During debate, some lawmakers and advocates pushed the idea of renaming it “Presidents’ Day” to honor both Washington and Lincoln , whose birthday is February 12 and already a big deal in many states.
That formal name change never passed, but:
- Retailers heavily advertised “Presidents Day” sales.
- States started renaming their own versions of the holiday to Presidents’ Day or similar.
As a result, the public started calling it Presidents Day almost everywhere, even though the federal name stayed Washington’s Birthday.
What “Presidents Day” Means Now
Today, depending on where you are:
- Some states explicitly honor Washington and Lincoln together.
- Others treat it as a day for all presidents , past and present.
- The federal government, on paper, still calls it Washington’s Birthday.
So it’s called “Presidents Day” in everyday speech because the holiday evolved in practice from a single‑president birthday (Washington) into a broader celebration of multiple presidents, with the marketing world and state laws helping the new name stick.
Fun Little Quirk: The Apostrophe
You’ll see it written as:
- Presidents Day
- President’s Day
- Presidents’ Day
There’s no universally enforced standard, partly because “Presidents Day” isn’t the official federal name, so punctuation varies between states, advertisers, and style guides.
TL;DR: It’s officially Washington’s Birthday, but it’s commonly called Presidents Day because people and states started using it to honor Washington, Lincoln, and often all U.S. presidents—so the popular name outgrew the legal one.
Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.