What Is an Orthodox Name Day?

In much of the Orthodox world, the question “When is your name day?” matters at least as much as “When is your birthday?” A name day — in Greek, ονομαστική εορτή (onomastiki eorti) — is the feast day of the saint whose name you carry, and it is celebrated as a personal holiday shared with everyone who bears that name.

Where name days come from

Orthodox Christians are traditionally baptized with the name of a saint. That saint becomes the child's patron and intercessor, and the saint's feast day becomes the child's own feast. When the Church commemorates Saint Nicholas, everyone named Nicholas, Nikolaos, Nikola, Nicolae, or Nicole celebrates with him. The custom reflects something deeper than naming fashion: the Church's conviction that the saints are alive in Christ, and that carrying a saint's name places you in a lifelong relationship with a real person who prays for you.

Because the Church calendar assigns saints to fixed days, most name days fall on the same date every year — Saint Basil on January 1, Saints Constantine and Helen on May 21, Saint Demetrios on October 26, Saint Katherine on November 25, Saint Nicholas on December 6 (dates given on the New Calendar; Old Calendar parishes keep the same feasts thirteen days later). A few name days move with Pascha — most famously Saint George's, which is transferred to Bright Monday in years when April 23 falls during Great Lent or Holy Week.

Name day vs. birthday

A birthday celebrates the day you entered the world; a name day celebrates who you were named into. In Greece, Cyprus, Serbia, Romania, Bulgaria, Russia, and across the Orthodox diaspora, the name day has historically been the bigger occasion. In many Greek villages, birthdays were barely marked at all — but on the feast of the village's popular names, the whole community knew exactly whose door to knock on.

There is also a practical charm to name days: you don't need to remember a personal date for every friend. If you know someone's name and the Church calendar, you know their feast. That is precisely why an Orthodox calendar — on paper on grandmother's wall, or on your phone — has always been a household essential.

How name days are celebrated

• In Greece and Cyprus, the celebrant traditionally keeps an open house (and often treats the guests, rather than the other way around). Friends call or visit without needing an invitation, saying Χρόνια Πολλά — “many years.”
• In Russia, the name day (именины, imeniny) is sometimes called Angel Day (День ангела), and the greeting is “С днём ангела” — happy Angel Day.
• In Serbia, personal name days exist, but the greater treasure is the Slava — the family's hereditary celebration of its patron saint, passed from father to children, with a blessed bread (slavski kolač) and koljivo.
• In Romania, the wish is “La mulți ani!” — the same “many years” — and major name days like Saint Nicholas, Saint Demetrios, and Saints Constantine and Helen are national fixtures.

Common threads everywhere: attending the Liturgy if possible, honoring the saint whose name you bear, and receiving the wishes of family and friends. Many families also mark the day with the saint's icon, a candle, and the singing of “Many Years” (Πολυχρόνιον / Многая лета).

Which saint is “yours”?

Several saints often share one name — there are many Saints John, for example, from the Baptist to Chrysostom to Saint John Maximovitch of Shanghai and San Francisco. Traditionally you celebrate the saint you were named for, or the most prominent feast of that name in your family's tradition. If your name has no saint, custom varies: many celebrate on the feast of All Saints, the Sunday after Pentecost, which embraces every saint — known and unknown.

How the Orthodox Calendar app helps

Orthodox Calendar shows the saints of every day on both calendars, then matches them to the names in your contacts, entirely on your phone, so you see who is celebrating. Contacts saved as “Mom” or “Sister”? Give them a name day by hand. When the day arrives, send Χρόνια Πολλά in one tap.

Related guides

• Whose Greek Name Day Is It Today?

  How to find today's Greek Orthodox name day, how names map to saints, major name days through the year, and an app that checks your contacts for you.

• 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.

• Old Calendar vs. New Calendar: Why Orthodox Christmas Can Fall on January 7

  Why some Orthodox churches celebrate Christmas on January 7: the Julian vs. Revised Julian calendars, which churches use which, and the 13-day difference.