One of the cultural joys largely lost in this country is the celebration of the NAME DAY! Yeah! Did you know there was such a thing? Also called saint’s days or feast days, name days are still celebrated in Catholic countries, particularly in Europe. Like a birthday complete with cake, party, and presents, it is a day to celebrate a child. Each day of the year is assigned a saint (or several). All Margarets share a name day, all Jeromes. Though sometimes different cultures do commemorate the same saint on a different day. A person may obtain a saint’s name at their baptism or confirmation. A child might also be named in honor of the day they were born, and this is particularly prevalent as a middle name option.
The name day celebration is in decline due to relaxing name laws and guidelines resulting in more choice for parents when choosing a name. However, the Catholic calendar is replete with excellent underused classical choices for the modern parent, Catholic or not. I motion to bring back the secular aspect of the name day. We’re definitely going to celebrate in our house.
Below are some upcoming name days cherry-picked from the calendar, in case you want to take little Barnabas out for ice cream:
JUNE 8:
Medard- (France) “boldly powerful”; became Bishop of Vermandois in 530
Kalliope, Kalliopi- (Greece) “beautiful voice”; A young girl who refused to marry a pagan
William- (England)- “Determined protector”; 12th century William of York who was ousted as Bishop and then reinstated six years later when he proved his piety.
JUNE 9
Diana- (Italy) “Heavenly, divine”; helped to found a Dominican convent near Bologna.
Columba- m. (Scotland) “Dove”; 6th century Irish monk who established a monastery on Iona off the coast of Scotland. Credited with the conversion of Scotland to Christianity.
Ephrem, Ephraim- (Hebrew) “fruitful”; 4th century Mesopotamian, a poet, an orator, and an instructor. It is said that his account of The Last Judgement inspired Dante.
Gita- (Latvia) On the 1993 Latvian calendar
Valeska- (Latvia) “strength” On the 1915 and 1923 Latvian calendars
JUNE 10
Olive, Olivia- (Italy) “Olive”; A young girl who performed miracles despite oppression by foreign invaders
JUNE 11
Barnabas- (Hungary) “son of encouragement”; A Cypriot, Paul’s right hand man, a teacher and a leader
JUNE 12
Guy- (France) “Guide”; A Benedictine Abbot from the 10th century, he retired and became a hermit
Dove- m. (Lithuania) “Bear”
JUNE 13
Anthony- (Italy) “Of inestimable worth” Saint Anthony of Padua, a Franciscan monk who lead an ascetic life free of the tempations of worldly goods
JUNE 14
Vasil- (Russia) “Royal, knightly”; Also known as Basil the Great, 4th century Bishop of Caesaria and reknowned theologian
Hakon- (Sweden, Norway) “High son”
Incidentally, in the United States, we evidently have a new holiday called a “Name Week” which is celebrated the first week in March. It was started in 1997 by an amateur onomatologist Jerry Hill to honor all names. I think having our own personal name days is a bit more fun, but hey, whatever gets people to think about names is OK in my book.
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Nice job, Elisabeth! I was wondering how you’d approach this one. There are so very many Saints names to choose from. If my mother had gone this route; choosing my name based on my day of birth, I’d be Harriet or Henrietta, as the Saint for my day is Henry (II). (rather an apropos Saint for me, actually!)If I had been born on my due date, I would be Lydia. (I make a spectacularly awful Lydia!)
There are some really aweome Saint’s names out there, if only people would look a bit! Thanks so much for touching upon this subject!
What an interesting (and I mean that in the best possible way!) assortment of names, it just makes me yearn for more from the Saints’ List, and from this blog, by the way! Love it!
Name week? Not really! How fabulous. I might throw a party.
BTW, my husband’s Polish family celebrates Name Days but NOT birthdays. So I’m not sure if it’s a have-your-cake-and-eat-it-too kinda thing or just have-your-cake-on-a-different-day.
This has led to some interesting moments. We once visited my husband’s aunt on her birthday. We only knew because a non-Polish friend happened to visit while we were there – with a birthday cake!
Had I been named after my Saint, I’d be Saint Anne. Yawn. Or possibly Saint Bartholomea, which is infinitely more interesting, both spiritually and onomastically speaking. But who in their right mind would hang that moniker on a kid?
Lola, I think you (or your offspring) would make a wonderful Harriet or Henrietta. I’ve really grown to love both.
Mummie, I’m going to more than touch on name days. I’ll do my best to post the week’s whittled choices every Sunday.
Verity, I think which day to celebrate depends on the culture and the family. My mother-in-law said they celebrated the saint’s day more than the birthday growing up in Brittany. Now, I think they really lean more toward a birthday celebration.
Anne has some lovely derivatives, that might not have been so bad! Annie is an adorable nickname. America may not be quite ready for Bartholomea though.
I might have wound up a Marcella had I been named for the day on which I was born or Gusztav had I been a boy. I think I could have pulled off Marcella, but I bet it would have been a different life.
I went to HS with a Marcella! Went by Marcy then; lost track of her after graduation, but boy, is that name stuck in my head. Gustav/e! Now I know you should use that somewhere in the combo for a boy… it honors YOU!
And you know what, Lola? I didn’t even know that until yesterday.
My saint was shared with Barbara and Rebecca, 17th of dec. My mum still phone to wish me a happy St Gaelle day!!!
Growing up in Brittany, it was celebrated, but to the point of giving you presents, crap! Probably a lot latter on than your MIL!
Anyway the ammusing thing is when you were borned on days where the calendar did not show a name.
For example, I had a friend called Fetnat, born on the 14th of July, the day of the FETe Nationale!!!!
Ok that is a big extreme (his parents certainly were) and rarely occurs nowadays, but it still funny.
I would have been named Frances, which is a lovely name but not my cup of tea. However, my mom’s family from Austria still has Saints’ Day. They had a hard time linking one with Erin, and eventually decided on Saint Bride.
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