When is Martin’s name day?

Martin can be celebrated on 3 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 Martin is celebrated

The saints behind the name

• 

  Martin the Confessor

  April 13, Hierarch, Μαρτίνος

  St. Martin the Confessor was Pope of Rome in the seventh century. He convened a council at the Lateran which condemned the Monothelite heresy, defending the fullness of Christ's humanity against the will of the emperor. For this he was seized by imperial soldiers, carried off to Constantinople, tried and mistreated, and exiled to Cherson on the Black Sea.

  Name days: Martinos, Martin

• 

  Martin the Confessor, Pope of Rome

  April 14, Hierarch, Μαρτίνος

  St. Martin, Pope of Rome, was one of the great confessors of the seventh century. When the Monothelite heresy, supported by the imperial court, denied the fullness of Christ's human will, Martin gathered a council at the Lateran which condemned the error. The emperor's men seized the ailing pope, brought him in chains to Constantinople, and after a humiliating trial banished him to distant Cherson.

  Name days: Martin, Martinos

• Martin of Tours

  November 12, Hierarch, Μαρτίνος ο Ελεήμων

  Saint Martin was born in Pannonia in the fourth century and served in the Roman army. The famous story relates that as a catechumen he cut his cloak in half to clothe a freezing beggar, and that night saw Christ wearing the piece he had given away.

  Name days: Martinos, Martin

Also celebrating with Martin

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

Martinos

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.