When is Athanasius’s name day?

Athanasius can be celebrated on 4 feasts in the Orthodox calendar. People keep the feast of the saint they were named for, or the one their family has always kept.

Every feast on which Athanasius is celebrated

The saints behind the name

• Athanasios the Great

  January 18, Hierarch, Αθανάσιος ο Μέγας

  St. Athanasios the Great, Archbishop of Alexandria, was born about the year 297 and as a young deacon accompanied his bishop to the First Ecumenical Council at Nicaea, where he stood against Arius in defense of the divinity of Christ. Made bishop of Alexandria in 328, he was driven into exile five times by Arian emperors yet never yielded, so that it was said of him: Athanasius against the world.

  Name days: Athanasios, Thanassis, Thanos, Nasis, Atanas, Athanasius, Thanasis, Thanasi, Athanasis, Athanasia, Nasia, Sia

• 

  Athanasius the Confessor

  February 22, Venerable, Αθανάσιος

  St. Athanasius the Confessor was a monk who lived in the time of the iconoclast persecutions, when the emperors made war upon the holy images. For his steadfast veneration of the icons of Christ and His saints he endured affliction and persecution, bearing witness to the Orthodox faith without wavering.

  Name days: Athanasios, Thanasis, Athanasius

• 

  Athanasios of Alexandria

  May 2, Hierarch, Αθανάσιος ο Μέγας

  St. Athanasios the Great was Archbishop of Alexandria in the fourth century and the foremost defender of the divinity of Christ against the Arian heresy. Present at the First Ecumenical Council of Nicaea as a young deacon, he spent the rest of his life upholding the Nicene faith, enduring five exiles rather than yield.

  Name days: Athanasios, Thanassis, Thanos, Nasis, Athanasius

The other feasts are listed in the table above, each with a link to the saint’s life.

Also celebrating with Athanasius

These names share the feast, many of them other forms of the same name:

Athanasios, Thanassis, Thanos, Nasis, Atanas, Thanasis, Thanasi, Athanasis, Athanasia, Nasia, Sia

What to say on a name day

The Greek wish is Χρόνια Πολλά (Chronia Polla), “many years.” A call or a short message on the day is what people remember. See name day wishes you can send and what a name day is.