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Celebrating Greek Name Days

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kosta_karapinotis

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What do people here do to celebrate their name days? Most people barely even remember all the name days, and last year I almost forgot about it. But I know that some people love to honor their name day. I am curious what people do. I have a friend who tries to go to church if there is a service. Other friends go out for dinner, as if they are celebrating a birthday.
 
kosta_karapinotis said:
What do people here do to celebrate their name days? Most people barely even remember all the name days, and last year I almost forgot about it. But I know that some people love to honor their name day. I am curious what people do. I have a friend who tries to go to church if there is a service. Other friends go out for dinner, as if they are celebrating a birthday.
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I go to church as I do most Sundays. We used to get a flower but that stopped.
 
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When growing up (I am now 85) I never knew anyone's B'day. We only celebrated name days, and they were big house party events with lots of food, music, dancing and drinks with relatives and friends. My name day was easy to remember since my name is Xpristos (Christ). If you are guessing, it is Christmas day. Those parties seem to have gone by the wayside. In fact I don't recall going to any name day parties after my dad died in 1957. And, I don't recall either of my sisters who married Greek boys ever celebrated name days.
 
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I have every intention to really honor my name day but some years, it totally passes me by, especially if the day doesn't fall on a Sunday. I celebrate both Saint Katherine (birth certificate) and Saint Kaliope (baptismal name) ... This past year I totally forget Saint Kaliope is celebrated in June. I have a calendar alert now. I would love to treat the name days as if they were my birthday!
 
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k_tsoukalas said:
I have every intention to really honor my name day but some years, it totally passes me by, especially if the day doesn't fall on a Sunday. I celebrate both Saint Katherine (birth certificate) and Saint Kaliope (baptismal name) ... This past year I totally forget Saint Kaliope is celebrated in June. I have a calendar alert now. I would love to treat the name days as if they were my birthday!
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I wonder when the name of a muse was sanctified, and about this custom of 2 names, such as you have. In my native S. Italy [Magna Graecia], a baby used to be named after the saint whose feast was celebrated the day he was born, or after a grandparent, or both [///as probably also in your case?] In my case: Amedeo [a recent and rare aristocratic name] Luigi [maternal grandfather] Giuseppe [the eve of St. Joseph's].
 
amygdalE said:
I wonder when the name of a muse was sanctified, and about this custom of 2 names, such as you have. In my native S. Italy [Magna Graecia], a baby used to be named after the saint whose feast was celebrated the day he was born, or after a grandparent, or both [///as probably also in your case?] In my case: Amedeo [a recent and rare aristocratic name] Luigi [maternal grandfather] Giuseppe [the eve of St. Joseph's].
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We can technically take on a different name than our given name when we were born when we are baptized - we can choose. I see this a lot with adult converts. My convert friends consciously pick a saint they identify with. Kaliope is my grandmother's name. Saint Kaliope was martyred in 250 AD - she suffered "branding" right before her death. My grandmother (I never met her) is said to have hated her name and before she died, made my mother promise not to name me after her - I am the first born and that was the tradition in our family. My mom made a compromise and now Kaliope is my baptismal name.

That is a cool tradition your family practices - I think a lot of it depends on the family. Turns out, the Orthodox Church doesn't actually make these naming rules, families have their traditions... I didn't realize this until I was an adult, I just thought I was different. LOL
 
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We celebrate it like our birthday. It's a bigger deal for my wife than it is for me because she's from Greece and I'm not. Fortunately, it's easy for me to remember her name day because it's only a week after her birthday.
 
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I’ve always loved the tradition of celebrating name days. In my family, they’re just as meaningful as birthdays, and sometimes even more fun because they bring everyone together in a different way.

When a big name day comes around, especially one that several family members share, we often turn it into a full family gathering. For example, on a name day like Nick/Nikolas, where there might be multiple people celebrating, it becomes almost like a mini family holiday. Someone hosts, there’s plenty of food, and everyone comes by to wish the celebrants “chronia polla.”

I also like the simplicity of the tradition. Even if there isn’t a big gathering, people still call or send messages to acknowledge the day.

Do you celebrate name days in your family? And are there certain ones that turn into larger celebrations because several people share the name?

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