# Name Days



## Ilmo

I guess that the tradition to celebrate one's birthday, once each year, is rather universal (or at least global!). Or are the cultures where this kind of anniversaries are neglected? 
But my question is: How general is the habit to celebrate also the name day (el día del santo in Spanish)? Initially the first names were selected among the names of saints, and each saint had a special day of year when he/she was worshipped, and that day the namesake (tocayo/tocaya in Spanish) usually "offered up" by inviting his/her friends to spend an evening together.
Though there are no more any saints in the protestant countries and the first names have nothing to do with the names of saints (still they are called Christian names), celebrating the name day is rather important at least in my home country Finland and as far as I know also in Sweden. In the calendar (in Finland) there are for each day, with some exceptions, lists of first names to be celebrated - and different lists for the Swedish speaking people and those belonging to the orthodox church.
What about the other countries? Do you celebrate the name day, and if, what kind of customs are followed?


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## Laia

Yes, I celebrate it having lunch with my grandparents.
It's just like another birthday every year, but less important.
My saint is February 12th, Sta. Eulàlia de Barcelona.


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## lampiao

Wow!
This really is a novelty to me... I didn't know there was such a habit. 
That tradition might have existed here, but not any more... Or at least I haven't ever heard of it, and I've been around for a couple of years or so ... Oh right... not years, decades  

Anyway, I don't think I'd make any celebrations on a different day than my own birthday...


As for celebrating birthdays, I know that Jeovah's witnesses do not celebrate it, for religious reasons, I think.


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## GenJen54

Name days (or Saints' Days) are typically not celebrated in the U.S., except to my understanding, among some staunchly Catholics, particularly immigrants, in the North East. 

Neither my Catholic friends nor any friends from the Catholic high school I attended celebrated their name days. 

The first time I became aware of this tradition was when I lived in France.


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## cherine

I don't know if Christians in Egypt (Coptic Orthodox Church) celebrate the name day. The first time I've heard about it was a couple of years ago from a Greek friend of mine (Greek Orthodox Church) who told me they do celebrate the name day and explained to me what it is.


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## dbelle4500

As far as I  am aware, no celebrates this day in Britain.

In fact, I had never actually heard of this until I saw your posting. As you mention many people now choose non saints names, mainly because they like the sound of them. However even if they are very religious, and choose a saint's name, then there is no celebrating of their name's day.

I am quite intrigued now.





Thanks

David.


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## geve

GenJen54 said:
			
		

> The first time I became aware of this tradition was when I lived in France.


I would say that not many people celebrate it any longer in France, except maybe by just saying "bonne fête", but without any particular celebration. In my family we did celebrate it, and my friends usually found it strange.

When my sisters and I were kids, we used to get a small gift and a nice meal on our name day. When we grew up, the whole family took the decision to stop giving presents... Instead, we would go to a restaurant chosen by the "Saint of the day", because, well, we didn't mind having an additionnal occasion to go to the restaurant together  But we haven't been very loyal to this tradition lately, alas !

Nonetheless, Miss Météo announces next day's Saint(s) every night, along with the weather forecast.


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## cherine

geve said:
			
		

> Nonetheless, Miss Météo announces next day's Saint every night, along with the weather forecast.


Now this is an interesting information.

May I ask a question that I hope is not off-topic : Do the celebrated saints belong to the country where they are celebrated, or can you celebrate saints of other countries ? I.e. Do French people, for example, only celebrate French saints, or do they also celebrate Spanish, Italian... saints too ?


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## geve

Miss Météo only announces French Saints days, I'm afraid.
But there are most certainly people bearing foreign names who celebrate it, too


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## cherine

Merci Geve


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## Hakro

Ilmo said:
			
		

> I guess that the tradition to celebrate one's birthday, once each year, is rather universal (or at least global!). Or are the cultures where this kind of anniversaries are neglected?


As far as I know, many Thai people don't possibly know their own birthday exactly, only the year. Even in their passports the date of birth was always the 1st of January. 

Maybe this has changed in recent years but I've seen several such passports.


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## natasha2000

cherine said:
			
		

> I don't know if Christians in Egypt (Coptic Orthodox Church) celebrate the name day. The first time I've heard about it was a couple of years ago from a Greek friend of mine (Greek Orthodox Church) who told me they do celebrate the name day and explained to me what it is.


 
This is a news for me as far as the orthodox church is concerned... I really did not know that Greek celebrate the saints day. I thought it was a catholic thing...

As far as my country is concerned, Serbs, who are o rthodox, too, do not celebrate saints day in this way, as a saint protector of a person. On the other hand, we do celebrate (and I think we are the only ones in the world who do this), saint protector of a family, called in Serbian "slava". Each family has its own saint protector or "slava", for ejample, Saint George, Saint Nicolas, Sain John.... This day is a very special day, for a family, it is celebrated with a big lunch and everybody is invited. It is a custom to invite people only the first time you celebrate it. Next year, everyone is expected to come if they want. You do not invite people, but you prepare a meal. At noon, you go to church to bless the bread and candle (a special one) which is then lighten and it is not put out until it puts out itself. It is celebrated by most of the people, but not everybody.


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## Roi Marphille

I did when I was a kid. It was fun because I has presents. It was "my day" because I have a twin brother and we allways celebrate the birthday together, so my Saint day was only for me!
Now I don't celebrate it because I find it embarassing that people congratulates me and I have not done anything worthy of it...
and also because I relate this Saint thing with Catholinism and I don't believe anymore.


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## cherine

natasha2000 said:
			
		

> This is a news for me as far as the orthodox church is concerned... I really did not know that Greek celebrate the saints day. I thought it was a catholic thing...


The whole idea of this celebration was news for me too 


> Each family has its own saint protector or "slava", for ejample, Saint George, Saint Nicolas, Sain John.... This day is a very special day, for a family, it is celebrated with a big lunch and everybody is invited. It is a custom to invite people only the first time you celebrate it...


Another question please :
On what bases does a family choose their saint ? You also say "the first time you celebrate it", are you referring to newly formed families/couples ?

Thanks to everyone for sharing this information about cultural differences


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## natasha2000

cherine said:
			
		

> The whole idea of this celebration was news for me too
> 
> Another question please :
> On what bases does a family choose their saint ? You also say "the first time you celebrate it", are you referring to newly formed families/couples ?
> 
> Thanks to everyone for sharing this information about cultural differences


 
Well, normally, the son iherits "slava" from his father, but if thera are more brothers, then always the eldest one inherites it, and the rest of younger brothers have to choose a new one. You can choose the saint you like, or the saint that means something to you... In the last 15 years, there are many older people who also had to chose their saints, once the communism was dead, and everyone became "all of a sudden" religious (the thing I do not like, because in my country was not as in the rest of other communist countries, people could be religious if they wanted, so from my point of view, the real faith of these newly, "all-of-a-sudden" religious people is very doubtful, but this is another topic, and is not the topic of this thread).

I suppose this tradition is a mixture of a christian and old slavic religion. In old slavic religion, there were little ghosts called "domachi" (I would try to translate it like "home guardians") whose obligation was to take care and protect the home and the family who lived in. Later, whan christianism came to our lands, I guess that Domachi were changed for saints...


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## cherine

Thank you for your answer Natasha.
I think the fact the religion "merged" with local culture is a common things in all religions/countries. But yes, this is not the topic of the thread.
Thanks again


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## natasha2000

cherine said:
			
		

> Thank you for your answer Natasha.
> I think the fact the religion "merged" with local culture is a common things in all religions/countries. But yes, this is not the topic of the thread.
> Thanks again


 
No problem, Cherine, but when I said that this was not the topic of this thread, I was reffering to my comment on "all of a sudden" newly religious people in my country....


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## nichec

lampiao said:
			
		

> Wow!





			
				lampiao said:
			
		

> This really is a novelty to me... I didn't know there was such a habit.
> That tradition might have existed here, but not any more... Or at least I haven't ever heard of it, and I've been around for a couple of years or so ... Oh right... not years, decades
> 
> Anyway, I don't think I'd make any celebrations on a different day than my own birthday...
> 
> 
> As for celebrating birthdays, I know that Jeovah's witnesses do not celebrate it, for religious reasons, I think.



Same here, never heard about it 

But many people don't even celebrate birthday in Taiwan, because it's a day that your mother suffered....I left there long time ago, so I celebrate mine every year (when I'm still young )


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## natasha2000

nichec said:
			
		

> Same here, never heard about it
> 
> But many people don't even celebrate birthday in Taiwan, because it's a day that your mother suffered....


 
What a nice thought... I have never thought about the birthday in this way.... We completely forget about our mothers...


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## geve

nichec said:
			
		

> But many people don't even celebrate birthday in Taiwan, because it's a day that your mother suffered....


but it's also a day where she was very happy - blessed with a wonderful child !


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## maxiogee

Nobody in Ireland ever celebrated a name day, to the best of my knowledge. It isn't mentioned in old literature either.


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## Dr. Quizá

I don't know anybody that celebrates that day, although you're usually congratulated and presents are given to some kids then. I don't even know when is my name day (I think it's February 19th).


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## Cath.S.

There is no Sainte Egueule yet. I'll be the first.


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## *Cowgirl*

I've never celebrated my "name day" to tell you the truth I don't know who my saint is. I've often read in books with Catholic characters of name day celebration.


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## Ilmo

I got almost as astonished about the extent of ignorance concerning the celebration of name days as those who expressed surprise over that kind of habit in our western culture.
Maybe therefore I have reason to describe this characteristic of the Nordic way of life.

In Finland, we have presently 781 first names in the official calender, to which the Helsinki University has the exclusive right. They are divided between the days of year evenly but according to old traditions. Similar or derived names are set on the same day. 
These first names have nothing to do with any saint's names. A new name is accepted to the name day list once it has been given to a minimum of 1000 persons since the year 1900.
Persons who do not find their first name in the list are allower to select any suitable day to celebrate their name day.

There is a corresponding list of the orthodox church, but those are really saints' names.
Also for Swedish speaking part of the Finnish people there is a corresponding list.

Except in calendars, almanacs and similar publications the names to celebrate each day are published in every newspaper, most often in connection of information about sunrise and sundown etc. Additionally, the Finnish Broadcasting declares those names a couple of times each morning and pronounces their "happy name day" felicitations - aunque, naturalmente, nobody has done anything worth congratulations for his/her first name, except maybe carrying it from year to year.

Normally, there are no name day gifts, except maybe for the kids. Instead, post cards are used to demonstrate that the friends remember him/her. And it is considered normal and good manners to visit the celebrated during the day or in the evening without any invitation - the celebrated must be ready to offer at least a cup of coffee and a piece of cake.


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## Zakalwe

Like Geve, i used to receive gifts for my saint (10th of january) when i was a child. I also used to buy something for my mother's saint, althought i usually only cut a flower from the garden.

Mister/miss weather forecast ('météo') always remember us of which saint will be the next day. Normally we only say it ('bonne fête') to the people if we run into them during the day. But for the family, especially the grandfathers, we have to call them.

A strange habit is that we have to say it the day before and not the day of the saint.

Here in Spain, we celebrate it more or less like in France. We call the member of the family the day of its saint, althought we generally have more calls to do, as most of the time the grandfather, the father and the son have the same firstname. Saints have also more importance in Spain as lots of bank holidays and celebrations correspond to a particular saint's day (san Vicente, San Antonio, San José,...).


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## seosamh

For Maxiogee - when I was growing up in Co. Armagh my family didn't "celebrate" namedays but I was always told it was my special day - in fact I was lucky because, as a Joseph, I have two namedays, 19th March and 1st May (St Joseph the Worker)! All the kids in school who had the name of a well-known saint from the Irish or Roman calendars (Patrick, Bridget, Colman, Mary, Teresa etc.) did know their namedays.


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## Fernando

I celebrate my name's day (1), but in a slighter way than birthday.

I would say that people I know celebrate name's day (en español, "el santo") just a little  or do not celebrate it at all.

On the other hand, my mother ONLY celebrates her name's day. She does not want to remember how old she is!

Note to cherine: We celebrate all Christians saints, not only Spanish.

(1) St Ferdinand the Third, king of Castille and Leon, May, the 30th


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## cherine

Thanks for the info Fernando. So you may celebrate an Egyptian saint, for example ? like Mare Girgis ? or Mare Mina ? (I think Mare is the coptic word for saint).
In other words, would you celebrate saints of other churches ?


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## Roi Marphille

well, actually it's quite curious to find that every day in the calendar has it's own Saints. Sometimes three... They say in the radio: today it's Saint ___, Saint __...and so on. The patron of the barbers, the patron of the taxi drivers, the patron of referees I don't know...thare are hundreds! This Saint will keep your eyes safe, this one will give you a safe journey...My 95 years old Grandma prays at the same Saint every time she enters in a car, I happen to remember that it's Saint Anthony. Difficult to take account of them all!


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## maxiogee

Dia dhuit, a Sheosaṁ a cara,
Was it in school that you were made aware of the name-day?
I remember a very pro-Catholic, pro-Irish religious-order-run educational system of the 1950s when that would have been prevalent, and can imagine Northern Christian Brothers or nuns being very staunch on things like that. We knew which days were associated with which saints, particularly the Irish ones (as you mentioned) but we didn't feel any personal 'ownership' as we would say nowadays.

Beannacṫaí leat.


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## Roi Marphille

maxiogee said:
			
		

> Dia dhuit, a Sheosaṁ a cara,
> Was it in school that you were made aware of the name-day?
> I remember a very pro-Catholic, pro-Irish religious-order-run educational system of the 1950s when that would have been prevalent, and can imagine Northern Christian Brothers or nuns being very staunch on things like that. We knew which days were associated with which saints, particularly the Irish ones (as you mentioned) but we didn't feel any personal 'ownership' as we would say nowadays.
> 
> Beannacṫaí leat.


...ehem...Saint Patrick?


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## Fernando

Roi Marphille said:
			
		

> well, actually it's quite curious to find that every day in the calendar has it's own Saints. Sometimes three... They say in the radio: today it's Saint ___, Saint __...and so on. The patron of the barbers, the patron of the taxi drivers, the patron of referees I don't know...thare are hundreds! This Saint will keep your eyes safe, this one will give you a safe journey...My 95 years old Grandma prays at the same Saint every time she enters in a car, I happen to remember that it's Saint Anthony. Difficult to take account of them all!



A saint is saved (who enter in Paradise, if you want). According to Mormons, the number of Saints is fixed: 144,000 (12*12*1,000), taking the figure from Revelations Book (Apocalypse).

Catholicism and most other Christian Churches do not fix the number, which is assumed to be very much higher. 'Official' saints are just a slight number that, according their notoriousness have been declared so by Catholic Church. If the Popes there would have declared a saint a year 2000/365 days > 5 saints a day.


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## Monnik

cherine said:
			
		

> Now this is an interesting information.
> 
> May I ask a question that I hope is not off-topic : Do the celebrated saints belong to the country where they are celebrated, or can you celebrate saints of other countries ? I.e. Do French people, for example, only celebrate French saints, or do they also celebrate Spanish, Italian... saints too ?


 

Hi, Cherine...

No, the saint one is named after (at least in Mexico) does not necessarily have to be from that country (this would mean that every ten people in my country would have the same name, hehehe)    (I don't really know how many Mexican saints there are)

In my case, both my kids were named based on a saint, and we do try to do something special on those days, even though they are still little.


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## maxiogee

Roi Marphille said:
			
		

> ...ehem...Saint Patrick?



You misunderstand Roi.
Yes, the Irish claim St Patrick's Day - but Irish guys *named* Patrick don't feel anything connecting them to the day.


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## Fernando

cherine said:
			
		

> Thanks for the info Fernando. So you may celebrate an Egyptian saint, for example ? like Mare Girgis ? or Mare Mina ? (I think Mare is the coptic word for saint).
> In other words, would you celebrate saints of other churches ?



No, we only celebrate Christian saints. But in Spain we celebrate Irish (St Patrick), or English (St Thomas Moore), French (St Louis), Hungarians (St Elizabeth from Hungary)...

From currently Muslim countries we celebrate St Agustin of Hippona (Tunis) and many others. As a matter of fact we have a saint called St. Maria Egipciaca (St Mary, the Egyptian).

Here is a list of saints (Spanish):

http://www.archimadrid.es/princi/princip/otros/santoral/santoral.htm


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## cherine

Fernando said:
			
		

> No, we only celebrate Christian saints. But in Spain we celebrate Irish (St Patrick), or English (St Thomas Moore), French (St Louis), Hungarians (St Elizabeth from Hungary)...
> From currently Muslim countries we celebrate St Agustin of Hippona (Tunis) and many others. As a matter of fact we have a saint called St. Maria Egipciaca (St Mary, the Egyptian).


Do you want to say that Coptic saints aren't christian ? what do think they are ? budhists ?
I think you misunderstood my question, or that I didn't express my question clear enough, and I'm sorry for that 
The question is : do you celebrate saints of other churches ? i.e. catholic church, coptic orthodox church, greek orthodox church...
Any way, you answered the question partly, and I thank you for your answer 

P.S. The fact that Tunisia and Egypt are muslim countries doesn't mean they don't have churches.


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## Fernando

Sorry for the misunderstanding. No, we do not celebrate non-catholic saints. Protestants do not deal with saints. We 'share' with orthodox a big number of saints BEFORE the split of the two churches (as an example, saints Cyril and Metodio, who preached among Slavs) in 11th century.

Regarding coptic church. Mari Girgis = St George (of course, very worshipped in Catholic Church). I do not know about Mare Mina.


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## ITA

El día del santo de una persona se llama "onomástico" "día onomástico" aquí no se los festeja aunque desde hace unos años se está celebrando San Patricio pero la mayoría lo toma como una excusa para tomar mucha cerveza y no tiene idea del por qué de esa celebración.El mio es el 22 de noviembre (Sta Cecilia) un día mas para mi
Desde Bs As ITA.


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## seosamh

Dia 's Muire dhuit a Mhacsi,

In answer to the question about school, no, it was primarily in the family, though as I mentioned, all the kids in school seemed aware of it too. My primary school did have a strong nationalist ethos, my secondary school was run by a very humane order of priests who were pretty left-wing. even Marxist. However while we were aware of our saint's day we certainly didn't celebrate it in the same way as in Spain, Italy or apparently Finland.

Further info for Cherine and Fernando: the Western church publishes the General Roman Calendar ( http://www.universalis.com/calendar.htm#5 ) for use in Catholic churches of the Latin rite, but countries, dioceses and religious orders also have their own calendars, which may take precedence over the General Calendar. As Fernando pointed out, any saint who was known to the whole Church before the East-West schism of 1054 will be celebrated by the Western Church (except those who were removed in 1969 because there was only anecdotal or folkloric evidence for them, like SS. Valentine and Christopher!). However the Eastern churches whether Orthodox or Catholic have their own calendars (e.g Greek: http://www.goarch.org/en/chapel/calendar.asp , Georgian: http://www.angelfire.com/ga/Georgian/kalendar.html#1 , Coptic: http://www.copticchurch.net/easter.html , ) so a Saint's feast-day will often be on a different date in the East and West. I haven't been able to find out when the Coptic feast of St George is but it's probably not on the same day as he's celebrated in Spain... 
It would be interesting to know what calendar is used in Finland Ilmo - is it the Finnish Orthodox Church's, or is there a Lutheran one?

Beannachtai libh go leor!


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## Ilmo

seosamh said:
			
		

> Dia 's Muire dhuit a Mhacsi,
> 
> ...However while we were aware of our saint's day we certainly didn't celebrate it in the same way as in Spain, Italy or apparently Finland.
> 
> It would be interesting to know what calendar is used in Finland Ilmo - is it the Finnish Orthodox Church's, or is there a Lutheran one?
> 
> Beannachtai libh go leor!


 
Hi, Seosamh (is it all your first name, like I use mine, or are you called only Seo for short? )
Apparently I didn't state clearly enough that the Orthodox Church in Finland has its own Saint's calendar, but it has only some 60.000 members. The majority of the Finns are Lutherans, but the Lutheran Church does not keep any name day register but the task has been given to Helsinki University which has the exclusive right to publish name day calendars. There are different name day lists for the Finnish speaking population and the Swedish speaking (about 5 %) minority.

Many of todays first names are, of course, in some way derived from the old saint's names, though they may have been changed a lot under way. For instance John (Juan in Spanish) is used in Finland as first name in forms like Johannes, Juhana, Juhani, Juha, Juho, Hannes, Hannu, Jukka, Jussi, Janne, Jani... maybe there are still more of them. But there are also completely "invented" first names, words that do not mean anything in our language, or words of everyday vocabulary, for instance the Finnish traductions for words like Brother (Veli), Sister (Sisko), Light (Valo), Dear (Armas) etc. 

By the way, also name day calendars with pet names are published, at least for dogs and cats - and those two separately. (So far, I haven't yet heard of any name day calendar for aquarium fishes! )


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## annettehola

In Denmark name days are very scarce. I can think of: Skt. Hans only. Sankta Lucia maybe too, but that's more of a Swedish tradition. There is also Kjoermens Knud. And of more I cannot think.
Sankt Hans is lovely, really. It's the longest summer day and we burn witches on great big bonfires throughout the country. We send them to Germany, people always say that. Sankta Lucia is for angels in disguise. Only female angels. They walk with lit candels on their heads in a procession that looks sweet and rather ridiculous, singing a lovely tune.
Kjoermens Knud? I have no idea what that is. But I think it's something to do with winter or autumn.
These name days are old, very old. They are pagan.
Annette


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## seosamh

Ilmo said:
			
		

> Hi, Seosamh (is it all your first name, like I use mine, or are you called only Seo for short? )
> 
> ... the task has been given to Helsinki University which has the exclusive right to publish name day calendars. There are different name day lists for the Finnish speaking population and the Swedish speaking (about 5 %) minority...
> By the way, also name day calendars with pet names are published, at least for dogs and cats - and those two separately. (So far, I haven't yet heard of any name day calendar for aquarium fishes! )


 
Hi Ilmo - actually I just use the English short form Joe!

From your answer it looks like only the Finland celebrates a real *Name*-day as opposed to what the rest of us started talking about, which was *Saint's*-day! 

Beannacht leat


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## Ilmo

seosamh said:
			
		

> Hi Ilmo - actually I just use the English short form Joe!
> 
> From your answer it looks like only the Finland celebrates a real *Name*-day as opposed to what the rest of us started talking about, which was *Saint's*-day!
> 
> Beannacht leat


 
Not only in Finland - at least in Sweden, too.
Look at the link here . It is at least partially in English.


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## Zahab

okay 

mi family and i do not celebrate names days, the only particular day that we celebrate a lot is Christmas, for us is a beautiful moment to be happy with all your friends and with all the family, also the birthdays for us are very important always we eat cakes and invite all friend, another important day for mi familiy and me is the holy week.


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## natasha2000

Fernando said:
			
		

> Sorry for the misunderstanding. No, we do not celebrate non-catholic saints. Protestants do not deal with saints. We 'share' with orthodox a big number of saints BEFORE the split of the two churches (as an example, saints Cyril and Metodio, who preached among Slavs) in 11th century.


 
Oh really? How interesting, I didn't know that Catholic church had Cyril and Metodio as saints... They are very important personalities in Serbian history. Which days are St. Cyril AndSt. Methodio?


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## ayaram7700

In my country, Chile, some saints' days are more important than a birthday: For instance, Saint John, on June 24,  La Virgen del Carmen, sometime in July, Saint Louis, June 21, etc. Many times they have a wonderful party especially on Saint John in the rural areas, they prepare a goose with a lot of trimmings (Estofado de San Juan)  and they drink a lot,  too. I kind of like this tradition, unfortunately, it is slowly disappearing.

Bye everybody

Ayaram7700


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## Fernando

natasha2000 said:
			
		

> Oh really? How interesting, I didn't know that Catholic church had Cyril and Metodio as saints... They are very important personalities in Serbian history. Which days are St. Cyril AndSt. Methodio?



February 14th, according the link provided by seosamh. As a matter of fact, I think that St Valentine is no more officially celebrated since it is almost-mytological, while Cyril and Methodio have, of course, much more credit.

Obviously, Cyril and Methodio are not so well-known in the West, since every country celebrates the saint who has evangelized them (eg, Santiago/St James for Spain).


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## emma1968

Personally I don't celebrate my name date, I don't even know when it is, my partner who has south italy origin do .
In his name date all his  relatives call him to make congratulations.
Usually they call at dinner time, sorry not usually but always and always that evening we start eat soon and finish late because of lots calls.
Emma


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## Lourdes Luna

For many people in Mexico the Saint "El Santo" in spanish, is as important as their birthday and they can plan a big party where there are a lot of food, for others it is less important and you can only say congratulations "felicidades".
In Mexico my saint day "el día de mi santo" is February 11st, the Virgin Lourdes' Day "dia de la Virgen de Lourdes" , this virgin has her origin in France.
I know that it sounds strange in many countries, but iyou remember that Mexico is a country with many ancestral traditions.
Thank to everyone


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## natasha2000

annettehola said:
			
		

> In Denmark name days are very scarce. I can think of: Skt. Hans only. Sankta Lucia maybe too, but that's more of a Swedish tradition. There is also Kjoermens Knud. And of more I cannot think.
> Sankt Hans is lovely, really. It's the longest summer day and we burn witches on great big bonfires throughout the country. We send them to Germany, people always say that. Sankta Lucia is for angels in disguise. Only female angels. They walk with lit candels on their heads in a procession that looks sweet and rather ridiculous, singing a lovely tune.
> Kjoermens Knud? I have no idea what that is. But I think it's something to do with winter or autumn.
> These name days are old, very old. They are pagan.
> Annette


 
This Sankt Hans reminds me very much of San Juan in Spain... The same customs - big bonfires burning old furniture and stuff (that was earlier, as poeple tell me, now the bonfires are "organzed" by City Council, at least in Barcelona). They say they are burning "bad luck" - and they celebrate summer coming, and it is also the shortest night in the year - 24th June. Some nice fireworks are done, too...


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## Ilmo

natasha2000 said:
			
		

> This Sankt Hans reminds me very much of San Juan in Spain... The same customs - big bonfires burning old furniture and stuff (that was earlier, as poeple tell me, now the bonfires are "organzed" by City Council, at least in Barcelona). They say they are burning "bad luck" - and they celebrate summer coming, and it is also the shortest night in the year - 24th June. Some nice fireworks are done, too...


 
Sorry, Natasha - you are two days late. The shortest night of the year is 22nd June, not 24th.
Anyway, the bonfires are a tradition also in Finland - and everything that comes along with it. And at the end of next March there is a clear rise in the birth rate!


----------



## natasha2000

Ilmo said:
			
		

> Sorry, Natasha - you are two days late. The shortest night of the year is 22nd June, not 24th.
> Anyway, the bonfires are a tradition also in Finland - and everything that comes along with it. And at the end of next March there is a clear rise in the birth rate!


 
This is what I was told in Spain...

In Spain, 24th June is San Juan The Baptist. I wouldn't know for Finland, but it IS the shortest night in Spain...


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## Fernando

Ilmo is right, the shortest night (summer solstice) is 21st-22nd June (depending on the year, of course) but 24th June is associated with the solstice, anyway. 

I suppose that natasha says that is the shortest because nobody sleeps.


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## natasha2000

Fernando said:
			
		

> I suppose that natasha says that is the shortest because nobody sleeps.


 
Maybe THIS IS WHY people here told me that 24th is the shortest night, and I didn't get it right... 

Anyway, I wanted to point out the similarity of Danish and Spanish celebration....


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## JazzByChas

I have heard only of patron saints, who are generally assigned a specific theatre of operations, like a saint for seafaring persons, or a saint for farmers, and the like. Never celebrated a "St. Charles" day...(nor know of any Saint Charles...) Unless, there is a saint for persons who refuse to be normal and celebrate a warped sense of humor...


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## I.C.

As far as Germany is concerned, I only know some Catholics who celebrate name days. I'd say quite a few people outside of traditional Catholic strongholds would consider this practice as rather odd. Think historically the custom was especially promoted as part of Counter-Reformation. 
Doesn't really work for people who aren't named after Catholic saints, anyway, I'd think.


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## Lourdes Luna

EMMA1968 said:
			
		

> Personally I don't celebrate my name date, I don't even know when it is, my partner who has south italy origin do .
> In his name date all his relatives call him to make congratulations.
> Usually they call at dinner time, sorry not usually but always and always that evening we start eat soon and finish late because of lots calls.
> Emma


 
Hi Emma your saint is February 1st.
Emma meaning: Strong woman
Saint Emma was born in England in 1300 BC, she was Richard of Normandy's wife and Saint Edward's mother, Saint Emma was generous to poor people.

In Mexico the most important saint is the Virgin Guadalupe Day, it's celebrated in December 12nd, people of all country come to Mexico City to sing "Las Mañanitas" (it is a song that Mexican sing on Birhtdays) the translation could be: the little morning.


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## Vanda

> Never celebrated a "St. Charles" day...(nor know of any Saint Charles...)


 
JazzbyChaz, there´s - or better - I think, there are some Saint Charles ...
There´s one São Carlos do Brasil, to begin with.
There is one Saint Carlos/Charles (probably) Simeon and a Saint Charles Wesley  at the Anglican Church and who knows where else....


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## maxiogee

We named our son Adam. A name I've always liked and to which Mrs Maxiogee had no objections when I proposed it.
We had him christened in the local church (not so much for our own sakes, but because his two grandmothers expected it!).
In the middle of the ceremony the priest invoked the name of St. Adamnan (an Irish saint of long ago). I suppose it was the nearest he could get to Adam. I wonder whom they invoke for all the Kylies and Reeces out there?


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## Lourdes Luna

maxiogee said:
			
		

> We named our son Adam. A name I've always liked and to which Mrs Maxiogee had no objections when I proposed it.
> We had him christened in the local church (not so much for our own sakes, but because his two grandmothers expected it!).
> In the middle of the ceremony the priest invoked the name of St. Adamnan (an Irish saint of long ago). I suppose it was the nearest he could get to Adam. I wonder whom they invoke for all the Kylies and Reeces out there?


 
Could someone tell me what "Kylies and Reeces" mean?
Thank you so much!!


----------



## maxiogee

Girls being named "Kylie" and boys being named "Reece", these are apparently becoming popular names in Ireland.


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## Lourdes Luna

maxiogee said:
			
		

> Girls being named "Kylie" and boys being named "Reece", these are apparently becoming popular names in Ireland.


 
Jajaja, thank you Maxiogee, I was thinking that Kylie and Reece were a special word in english, I laugh of myself.

Gracias


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## Encolpius

Hello, 
which nations know the word "la onomastica"? I mean is that common to celebrate somebody's "name day" in your country? English don't know that word at all. And how about other countries? thank you.


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## whattheflock

In Mexico, when I was a very small boy, some people that were more of the "country" background used to be named after the Saint's name that appeared on the calendar on the day they were born. Also, some friends in elementary school still celebrated their birthday _*and*_ their "onomástico". I think it's more than anything related to Catholic customs, but I'm not sure. All I know is that we were Protestant, and we only got one birthday party a year.


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## maxiogee

Encolpius said:


> Hello,
> which nations know the word "la onomastica"? I mean is that common to celebrate somebody's "name day" in your country? English don't know that word at all. And how about other countries? thank you.



This is probably because of all the Roses, Pearls, and Aprils there are there. It seems to be a Protestant thing, both in England and in Ireland, not to give children saints names.

What would one do nowadays with all the Kylies, Chelseas and Dylans?

Is it only me or does *onomastica* sound like it ought to mean "the word for the sound of someone chewing"?


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## Hakro

There was a thread about this topic some time ago.


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## Nunty

maxiogee said:


> Is it only me or does *onomastica* sound like it ought to mean "the word for the sound of someone chewing"?



It's just you, dear heart. 

My English-speaking Catholic friends say "name day" or "feast day". The French-speaking Catholics I know say "son jour de fête" or "sa fête". The concept doesn't exist _per se_ in Hebrew, but Hebrew-speaking Catholics sometimes use a phrase that translates as "the feast of your saint" or simply "your feast". It would not be generally understood by the non-Catholic population, though.


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## Chaska Ñawi

Moderator Note: Merged Onomastica and Name Day Threads.  Please continue!


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## Encolpius

I find this thread personally very interesting, first of all because *nations in Central Europe (Czechs, Slovaks, Hungarians) do celebrate* his "name day". Since I'm not very social, I don't like it because people celebrate it even at work. You get some small presents from your colleagues. And unlike birthdays there's no way to hide your "name day" because the media show the name day every day just like in Finland.


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## sokol

Encolpius said:


> I find this thread personally very interesting, first of all because nations in Central Europe (Czechs, Slovaks, Hungarians) do celebrate his "name day". Since I'm not very social, I don't like it because people celebrate it even at work. You get some small presents from your colleagues. And unlike birthdays there's no way to hide your "name day" because the media show the name day every day just like in Finland.



Once upon a time in Austria the birthday wasn't really celebrated but the _name day_ was the day when you celebrated (that is of course if you celebrated at all because in former times the poor didn't even celebrate their name day).
I can't tell exactly when name day traditions in Austria went down the drain; I only can tell you that I personally never ever celebrated a name day, nor did I we when I was young (in a rural, rather poor region of Austria in the 1970ies; this was certainly different in richer and urban regions) - and that my grandma still remembered the times when the name day was what was important, and that many people even didn't remember their birthday but _did _know when their name day was. (Also in that days all people in this rural, Catholic region were named after saints - with Johann(es) and Maria being the most popular ones - and there weren't too many names anyway used which, further, were mentioned in mass when it was their name's day. Or something like that, far as I remember.)

Later, when a sister of mine began work in a hospital run by nuns, she reported that there only name days were celebrated (a rather small, modest celebration it was - in the late 70ies, she left that job a long time ago). This was very remarkable at the time, we didn't know that there was a place (still, apart from what our grandma told us) where name days were important at all.
This tradition may still last there - in the hospital run by nuns (and monasteries probably, for all I know), of that I have no knowledge; also I do not know for certain if these name day celebration _really _were a Catholic tradition, but in my experience they are.


_Nowadays _however in Austria we do not celebrate name days - or none of my acquaintances and friends do so, at least. The same goes for the workplace: none of my colleagues here in Vienna has ever congratulated me to my name day (and neither have I), same goes for Upper Austria and Graz for all I know.


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## Nanon

Well, the explanation I have always received is that it _was _a Catholic tradition indeed. My grandmother, who was an extremely conservative Catholic , considered that celebrating birthdays was a Protestant tradition (birthdays were celebrated in replacement of the veneration of saints). But in fact both traditions coexisted in the family, and they still do now even in the absence of any religious celebration. 

Outside the family circle, for instance at work, name days may be celebrated. This is done very simply with a wish, and kisses for ladies. All calendars mention the saint of the day and the weather man or lady on TV informs about that the day before ("don't forget to give a kiss to all [name] around"!), so "you can't hide" as Encolpius said. However, some names in the calendar are old-fashioned or not used at all, and it is not always easy to find when to send congratulations on a newly created name that was not the name of a saint.

All this is happening in France, where despite the fact that the Catholic church is still predominant, there is no official religion and the State and the Church are supposed to be separate .


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## federicoft

I don't celebrate my name day (_onomastico_) nor I know anybody who do that in the region where I live (Central Italy). 
Yes, most people are aware of when it falls. Your relatives or friends may give you a kiss or a ring on that day. But nothing more than that.

As far as I know, in the South people do celebrate their name day with parties and such.


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## Encolpius

sokol said:


> ... _Nowadays _however in Austria we do not celebrate *name days* - or none of my acquaintances and friends do so, at least. The same goes for the workplace: none of my colleagues here in Vienna has ever congratulated me to my name day (and neither have I), same goes for Upper Austria and Graz for all I know.



Thank you for the nice contribution. Let me have one more question. Do you use the word *Namenstag *for that day in Austria? Do people know what it means? thanks a lot.


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## sokol

Encolpius said:


> Thank you for the nice contribution. Let me have one more question. Do you use the word *Namenstag *for that day in Austria? Do people know what it means? thanks a lot.


Oh yes, of course we use *Namenstag *- and people of course know what it means.

It is only that they don't celebrate it any more (usually, with the possible exceptions mentioned above). You don't even receive a phone call and/or a kiss or any form of congratulation for your name day here in Austria (as described by federicroft for Central Italy). If someone happens to tell you that you have your name day this day most people even would be surprised because many people even don't know when their name day is; I certainly don't.


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## mirx

As mentioned before in other threads, In México both the Saint day and the birthday were celebrated. This is because they used to be always the same day, that is, parents named their children after what was wirtten on the calendar the day the Kid was born.

If somebody was Joseph, that was only because he was born on the 19th of March, or because somebody else in the family was named José.

This was not so much a tradition but a de facto rule, nobody ever thought about naming their children anything different from what was specified on the calendar, unless of course it was to honour some other member of the family.

This was in practice for the most part of the last century, all my uncles and aunts from both sides of the Family have their birthdays and saint days on the same day. However, this is so fast fading away. I don't think this is celebrated at all by younger generations, except perhaps for the ocassional handshake or back pat on one's saint day.

I know mine one is sometime in November, but have never celebrated and I don't feel any connection with the day and me. Grandmothers sometimes still organize some special food in this particular day. 

I grew up among a menonite community and as a matter of fact they don't celebreate their birthdays for religion reasons, and they also only have a range of names that they use.


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## sokol

Nanon said:


> (...) My grandmother, who was an extremely conservative Catholic , considered that celebrating birthdays was a Protestant tradition (birthdays were celebrated in replacement of the veneration of saints). (...)


Mine thought that too, by the way (and by the way, I cannot imagine that your grandmother would have been even more conservative than mine ...); which doesn't exactly prove that birthday celebrations really were a Protestant tradition - but it is at least an indication that this indeed could be the case.


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## Encolpius

And one another interesting thing occurred to me. It seems those name days fall to the same day in all countries.  So if some one's name is George, he will celebrate his name day on the same day, on the 24th in all those mentioned countries. Too strange in Barcelona they celebrate it on the 23rd.


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## Q-cumber

> But my question is: How general is the habit to celebrate also the name day (el dнa del santo in Spanish)?



   It used to be a good tradition in Russia before the bolshevik revolutuion, but not anymore. I dare say that very few Russians selebrate день Ангела (Angel's day) aka именины  <im*e*niny> (name day) nowadays. However, people occasionally mis-call birthday a name day (именины). Printed calenders often contain lists of associated given names. 
   Unlike Russians, Latvians always celebrate name days ("vaarda diena") and consider name day even more important as the celebration of the birthday..


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## sokol

Encolpius said:


> And one another interesting thing occurred to me. It seems those name days fall to the same day in all countries.  So if some one's name is George, he will celebrate his name day on the same day, on the 24th in all those mentioned countries. Too strange in Barcelona they celebrate it on the 23rd.


That's easy to explain though I don't know exactly how the differencies with George will explain.

With some names there are more than one saint (e. g. Johannes - there are several), and therefore you have several days; in some countries (regions, churches, ...) John the Baptist may be the most popular ones, in other ones John Nepomuk, or John Apostle, or any one of the numerous Johns who were declared a saint over time.

While researching this I've found something else interesting in this context: German Wiki claims that during the Catholic Counter Revolution the name day was enforced (which was especially strong in Austria and in a few southern and western German states of the "Holy Roman Empire" as the accumulation of German speaking states was called then).
This allegedly was done to set Catholics apart in names given (i. e. they enforced names of saints) - to make them more distinct from Protestants. In other regions where the population was predominantly Protestant anyway the old name day tradition of the Catholic and Orthodox church, this time according to English Wiki, allegedly was kept alive even with Protestants or Anglicans.

So in a nutshell: according to these sources the name day indeed is a tradition of both the Orthodox and the Catholic church and was also allegedly used by several "Protestant" churches even though in some regions, especially in the German speaking states, "Protestant" churches (Lutheran, Calvinist, etc.) seem to have been the first to abandon the name day traditions.

And here you are, an excellent example where Protestants still retain the name day traditions:


Q-cumber said:


> (...) Unlike Russians, Latvians always celebrate name days ("vaarda diena") and consider name day even more important as the celebration of the birthday..


Well ... there are Lutherans, Catholics and Orthodox Christians in Latvia. Q-cumber, could you probably specify if religion in Latvia has anything to do with name day traditions?


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## ireney

Well Greece was never a veritable (and sometimes literal) battleground between Catholicism and Protestantism so, unless we actually took the tradition from the Catholic church someway or another (being a matter closely related to religion and since that far back the relations between Catholics and Orthodox were not exactly friendly  I somehow doubt it) I can't see how it can be tied to one dogma or another.
In Greece name days are celebrated big way. Name days of popular names such as Yannis (John), or Giorgos (George) or Maria (Mary) etc mean that practically everyone will have a close relation celebrating.
Phone calls to the person whose name-day it is are to be expected to the point of some people (for example my mother, a Catherine,) having to use the answering machines if they want to get any work done.
People whose name day it is are expected to bring some sort of treat to their colleagues at work or even their schoolmates at school. 
Close friends and family (at least) are supposed to give presents, although they don't have to be as "important" as the birthday ones (remember: gifts are also exchanged not only at birthdays and Christmas and New Year's Eve but also Easter  after all ).
Quite often the person whose name day it is will either throw a party or take his friends out to celebrate.
Oh, and while the official name is ονομαστική εορτή/γιορτή (onomastiki eorti/yorti) which means "name celebration", we usually just call it "yorti", "celebration".


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## sokol

ireney said:


> Well Greece was never a veritable (and sometimes literal) battleground between Catholicism and Protestantism so, unless we actually took the tradition from the Catholic church someway or another (being a matter closely related to religion and since that far back the relations between Catholics and Orthodox were not exactly friendly  I somehow doubt it) I can't see how it can be tied to one dogma or another.(...)


I too don't believe that the Orthodox church took over name day traditions from the Catholic Church - I am only guessing here, but I think that it was more the other way round.

But anyway, what I did say in my post above was that the Catholic Church (especially in Austria and some other German speaking states) _reinforced _the (at the time already existing) name day traditions.


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## suma

Birthday celebrations are not universal at all.
In many parts of the world, particularly poorer countries people often did not know the exact date of their birth.
So birthdays were not a traditional part of the culture.


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## Encolpius

ireney said:


> Well Greece was never a veritable (and sometimes literal) battleground between Catholicism and Protestantism so, unless we actually took the tradition from the Catholic church someway or another (being a matter closely related to religion and since that far back the relations between Catholics and Orthodox were not exactly friendly  I somehow doubt it) I can't see how it can be *tied to one dogma or another*...



The Czech Republic hasn't been a very religious country for long and name days are still very popular.


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## ireney

Oh don't get me wrong! Celebrating name days goes beyond religion. Complete athesits celebrate them too. I was just referring to the discussion of the origin of the name day celebration .


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## modus.irrealis

How much do immigrant communities preserve these name day traditions? My own family (originally from Greece) still places a lot of importance on name days -- similar to what Irene describes, phone calls are basically mandatory for close relatives/friends, when it's your name day you're supposed to host a party or take people out to dinner, as a child I got more gifts (i.e. money) from relatives on my name day than on my birthday, and so on. But I'm the first generation born in Canada so I wonder if it's something I should expect to die out, since a few weeks ago I was trying to buy a Name Day card in English and not only could I not find one but nobody knew what in the world I was talking about, and Toronto is a very multicultural city with people from many places that do celebrate name days so I was surprised to see that the whole idea seems to have made no impression on mainstream culture (and in the end I was forced to buy a Greek card).


----------



## sokol

In Austria there are also plenty of immigrants from nations who (contrary to Austrians) still celebrate name day - e. g. Czech (I'd guess Slovak too?! we've got confirmation for name day only for Czech for now).

So far I haven't seen that those immigrant societies had had any impact on mainstream culture. But it may be that they keep up their name day traditions anyway, and keep it within the migrant community (in which case I wouldn't notice it at all).


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## perrodelmal

I never celebrated my name day, nor anyone in my family. I think this is common in south and central mexico but not in northern mexico. I knew people in my hometown though that did celebrate them like a small version of a birthday.

It's definitly a catholic thing here in Mexico, and some time ago I think parents used to name their children after the saint on the day they were born, not very common anymore.

The funny thing is I had relatives in central Mexico that used to call me on Dec 15th because of my name day and I always forgot about it until I recieved their calls.

Just another day in the calendar for me.


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## Encolpius

perrodelmal said:


> I never celebrated my name day, nor anyone in my family. I think *this is common in south and central mexico but not in northern mexico. *I knew people in my hometown though that did celebrate them like a small version of a birthday.



very very interesting there are differences even within one country


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## Zsanna

Yes, it is interesting to see the differences but also the similarities! 

I think it hasn't been mentioned in connection with Hungary that celebrating namesdays is (or at least _was_ until the changes of '89) not clearly/obviously connected to religion. (Our namesdays do not always coincide with the French equivalents, for example.) 
Our "Name Book" (névkönyv = a collection of "official" first names) was made by the Hungarian Scientific Academy's Institute of [Hungarian] Language and they decided about the days (to celebrate the name in question), taking into consideration religious tradition (to a certain extent) as well as other aspects, like regrouping names of the same meaning or sounding, etc. to be celebrated on the same day. (In my book the figures mentioned are: 895 names for women and 932 names for men. There must be some more by now.)

It is a really pleasant social event (my favourite!) especially if you have a very popular name (like I have, at least in my generation) because then you can celebrate with lots of other people at the same time - at work, in school, everywhere. 
Some present is given but the minimum is to go somewhere to celebrate together free of any obligation other than have a good time.


----------



## Encolpius

Zsanna, do people celebrate it in Paris in the say way as in Hungary?


----------



## Zsanna

Not that I know of, unfortunately... (and I haven't had a proper namesday for nearly 20 years!)
In fact, I'm always surprised when I hear from French people that they do celebrate it a bit because I have never seen any sign of it. (Apart from the already mentioned "meteo lady/man" who tells the namesday to come after the weatherforecast.)
But then it is also true that we do not have a "French crowd" around us.


----------



## tvdxer

No such tradition in the U.S., which was historically a protestant country.


----------



## gato2

Aqui en España se solia celebrar, ahora parece que la costumbre va desapareciendo pero aun asi es normal que algunas personas te sigan felicitando el dia de tu santo.


----------



## katie_here

Please, if I have the title wrong will you correct me?, because I'm not sure what to name it. (Thanks!). 

My question. 

One of my friends is having the anniversary of the day he was given his name (this is how I understand it). 

I would like to know what it is exactly (the significance of giving a name, is it first name, family name? I'm not sure). 

Second, is there any customs to uphold on this day, like giving of a gift like you would on a birthday? 

Also is the naming 6 months after the day of birth (as it seems to be in his case or is that co-incidence).

Thanks


----------



## Chaska Ñawi

I've merged your question with this very detailed thread on the subject.

cheers


----------



## katie_here

Chaska Ñawi said:


> I've merged your question with this very detailed thread on the subject.
> 
> cheers




Thankyou very much for that, although kind of you, it still doesn't answer my question, as every nationality here is represented, except Polish, which is what I was refering to. 

If anyone can answer my questions I'd be grateful. 

Thankyou.


----------



## nasti

Hi 

Could someone translate it into English ? Beaucause my English .... 

katie_here, je vais essayer de répondre à tes questions :

*POLOGNE*
En Pologne, nous fêtons l'anniversaire (_urodziny_, l'anniversaire de la naissance) et surtout "notre fête" = "la fête du prénom" = "la fête de notre saint" = en polonais _imieniny_ (_imię _= prénom).

*ANNIVERSAIRE* _*URODZINY*_
Ces deux fêtes se ressemblent beaucoup. On reçoit des cadeaux, on a des invités. Mais on* arrête de "fêter"  invités, gâteau avec les bougies ) son anniversaire vers 18 ans ou même plus tôt, parce qu' "il n'y a plus de raisons de fêter quoi que ce soit", on est trop vieux/ vieille !  et on ne veut pas qu'on continue à nous rappeler notre âge ! )

*en tout cas c'est comme ça dans ma famille et dans ma région (?).

*moi, j'ai 28 ans, je continue à fêter mon anniversaire ; ) (et oui, il faut se trouver des plaisirs dans la vie).

*NOTRE FETE IMIENINY*
Vu que l'anniversaire est une fête secondaire, c'est le_ imieniny_, la fête du prénom qui est la plus importante. 



C'est la fête du prénom, du premier prénom (Ania, John, Marie, etc)
Avant ou juste après la naissance, les parents choisissent le prénom de leur enfant qui est :


un prénom qui leur plaît / qui a été porté par un membre de la famille important pour eux
un prénom d'un saint qui est important pour eux
Dans les deux cas, chaque* prénom renvoit à un saint, une sainte, à des saints (il y avait par ex. plusieurs saintes Anne !). Chacun de ces saints a son jour dans le calendrier chrétien et c'est ce jour qui devient le jour de la fête de l'enfant, puis de l'adulte.

Pour le imieniny : on donne, envoie des cartes de voeux, on se donne des coups de fil, on offre des cadeaux, on organise une fête, on prépare des gâteaux maison, desserts, etc; on est très sympa pour la personne en question ; ) . C'est vraiment un jour spécial. 

(Perso, j'essaie de penser interculturellement , mais quelle déception (?) quand mon meilleur ami, un Français, n'a pas jugé nécessaire de me dire bonne fête le jour de ma fête  ).

Non, ces 6 mois, c'est un hasard.  Tout dépend du calendrier chrétien. Mais s'il y a plusieurs saints portant le même prénom (et si pas d'attachements des parents pour un saint particulier) : on choisit le premier qui "tombe" après le jour de la naissance.

Naissance : 13 mars.
Saintes Anne : 15 juillet, 15 décembre, 15 janvier (dates inventées...)
On choisira le 15 juillet.

Remarques : 
- jusqu'il y a un certain temps les prêtres refusaient de baptiser les enfants aux prénoms "bizarres", tirés des séries télévisées étrangères ou des chanteurs people car ces prénoms ne figurent pas dans le calendrier chretien = ne renvoient pas à des saints.

Je ne suis pas ce phénomène, mais apparemment, on fait maintenant des exceptions (observation dans la rue), tout le monde ne fait pas non plus baptiser son enfant (le nombre de catholiques pratiquants est en baisse).


Mince, c'est long, j'espère que quelqu'un voudra bien le résumer pour katie_here .

Bon weekend 







katie_here said:


> Please, if I have the title wrong will you correct me?, because I'm not sure what to name it. (Thanks!).
> 
> My question.
> 
> One of my friends is having the anniversary of the day he was given his name (this is how I understand it).
> 
> I would like to know what it is exactly (the significance of giving a name, is it first name, family name? I'm not sure).
> 
> Second, is there any customs to uphold on this day, like giving of a gift like you would on a birthday?
> 
> Also is the naming 6 months after the day of birth (as it seems to be in his case or is that co-incidence).
> 
> Thanks


----------



## Thomas1

The custom celebrates the first name. You usually give someone your best wishes and if it’s a person close to you, you may give them a gift. And, yes it is usually similar to those you give someone on their birthday. 

  That it is 6 months after the day of birth is just a coincidence. The dates of celebration are to be found in a calendar like this one (not all names may be shown). 

  I think it is also worth mentioning that the name day is not celebrated by everyone, al least with the same frequency. For instance, young people don’t often celebrate it in comparison to those in their forties or elder. 



I think this is more or less what Nasti has written in her post.


----------



## katie_here

Thank you both very much.   Thanks to Thomas and the calendar. My friends name is Bartosz and his name day is April 21st.  Seeing it written down on the calendar has made it much more clearer.   I understand now.


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## effeundici

Italy is strictly divided in two parts. In the south people celebrate the Name Day. In the north it's almost unknown.


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## nasti

Thomas1 said:


> I think this is more or less what Nasti has written in her post.



 Yes...



katie_here said:


> Thank you both very much.   Thanks to Thomas and the calendar. My friends name is Bartosz and his name day is April 21st.  Seeing it written down on the calendar has made it much more clearer.   I understand now.


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## Encolpius

And how about calendars? here most calendars show when whose nameday is. Here you can check them and I've found the Russian calendar and others, too, is not completely full of names, while the Hungarian, Polish, German is full of names for every single day...


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## إسكندراني

I can confirm, as others did, that this tradition is unheard of in Britain and Ireland  Most people are not even aware of it.


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## Nanon

Encolpius, many wall calendars look like this in France.



nasti said:


> Saintes Anne : 15 juillet, 15 décembre, 15 janvier (dates inventées...)


Le 26 juillet, malheureuse !


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## Encolpius

Nanon said:


> Encolpius, many wall calendars look like this in France.
> 
> 
> Le 26 juillet, malheureuse !



wow, fantastic.  The funny thing is it hasn't ever occurred to me to check calendars when I visited some countries....Next time better luck....


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## Judica

Most people in the US [majority Protestant] have never heard of these 'traditions'. In Panama some people still do celebrate Name Day.

Myself, no. (I'm named similar to my Indigenous ancestors anyway) 

It is interesting though.


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## LilianaB

Encolpius said:


> And how about calendars? here most calendars show when whose nameday is. Here you can check them and I've found the Russian calendar and others, too, is not completely full of names, while the Hungarian, Polish, German is full of names for every single day...



Yes, Polish people celebrate traditionally Name Days, except Silesians, who don't. Some people in Lithuania may celebrate Name Days as well -- I am not sure who exactly (some traditions are slightly mixed -- Baltic, Polish, Russian,). No one in my family has ever celebrated Name Days -- only Birthdays.


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