Whose Greek Name Day Is It Today?

Every day of the year, the Orthodox Church commemorates particular saints — and everyone who carries a commemorated saint's name celebrates their name day. So “whose name day is it today?” always has a precise answer: it is the feast of today's saints, on whichever calendar your family follows.

See today’s saints and name days, or look up a name in the name day index.

How today's name days are determined

The Church calendar assigns commemorations to every date. Most are fixed feasts: Saint Basil is always January 1, Saint John the Baptist's Synaxis is January 7, Saints Constantine and Helen are May 21, Saint Nicholas is December 6 (New Calendar dates — Old Calendar parishes keep the same feasts thirteen days later on the civil calendar). Find today's saints, and you have found today's name days.

A smaller set of name days is movable, tied to the date of Pascha. The best-known example is Saint George: when his feast of April 23 falls during Great Lent or Holy Week, it is transferred to Bright Monday, the day after Pascha — so in some years every Giorgos and Georgia celebrates in spring twice-blessed. (See how the date of Pascha is calculated.)

One more subtlety: the same name may have several feasts. A Maria may keep her name day on the Dormition of the Theotokos (August 15) or on another feast of the Mother of God, depending on family custom. When in doubt, ask — Greeks love being asked.

Major Greek name days through the year

Some name days are so widely shared that they function almost as national holidays. A sampling, with New Calendar dates:

Names without a saint of their own — often ancient Greek names like Socrates or Aphrodite — are traditionally celebrated together on the feast of All Saints, the Sunday after Pentecost.

The hard part: remembering everyone

Knowing the system is one thing; catching the day your goddaughter, your uncle in Thessaloniki, and your colleague all celebrate is another. Diaspora families juggle two calendars, contacts scattered across time zones, and relatives saved in the phone as “Θεία” or “Mom.” This is exactly the problem a daily Orthodox calendar solves — and where a phone does better than the paper calendar on the kitchen wall, because your phone already knows your people.

How the Orthodox Calendar app helps

Orthodox Calendar answers “whose name day is it today?” for you. Open it each morning to see today’s saints, with their rank, a short life and the Greek name, then see which of your own contacts are celebrating, matched privately on your phone. People saved as “Mom” or “Sister” can be given a name day by hand. It follows the Old Calendar or the New with a single switch.

Related guides

• What Is an Orthodox Name Day?

  What a name day (onomastiki eorti) means in the Orthodox Church, how it differs from a birthday, and how Greeks, Russians, Serbs and Romanians celebrate it.

• Χρόνια Πολλά: What It Means and What to Say on a Name Day

  What Χρόνια Πολλά (Chronia Polla) means, when to say it, name-day greetings in Greek, Russian, Serbian and Romanian, and ready-to-send wishes.

• Feast Days of the Orthodox Church: Pascha, the Twelve Great Feasts, and the Ranks of Saints

  The feast days of the Orthodox Church: Pascha, the Twelve Great Feasts with their dates, and the ranks of saints — Apostle, Martyr, Venerable, and more.