by Katerina Nikolas

Created on: January 11, 2010

Traditionally in Greece birthdays may be acknowledged, but rarely celebrated, and it doesn’t matter if a birthday is forgotten. If a birthday is celebrated it is by invitation.  It is  the name day is the person which is celebrated, rather than the birthday. The custom is that Greeks who follow the Greek orthodox church each gave their child the name of a saint, and when the day of the saint is celebrated so is the person named after them. Each saint has their own name day within the Greek orthodox calendar.  Names are often not given at birth, but at the baptism of the child, and it is at the baptism that the child takes the name of the saint. Of course the name will be known beforehand as each child is named after their grandfather or grandmother, keeping the same name in the family for generations.

The convenient thing about celebrating the name day rather than the birthday, is that most everyone will remember when it is, if they know which saint the bells ring for that day. Traditionally the family of the person celebrating their name day would hold an open house to visitors, who would arrive with small gifts, and the household would in turn prepare pastries and sweets to serve to the guests. One of the offerings was always a fruit, such as a fig or orange slice, preserved in thick sweet syrup, which would be served on a teaspoon with a glass of water when the guest entered the house.

 These days it is more usual for a person to telephone the person who is celebrating to wish them ‘ xhronia polla’, or many years. They could well end up telephoning many people if they know lots of people who share the same name. An invitation may be extended to visit in which case a small gift should be taken along.

It is customary too to visit the church on that day, to light a candle in celebration of the particular saint who is honoured that day. Women may have their own saints day or follow the day of the male saint if their name has been feminised from the male name, thus Paniyotis and Panioyta will share the same name day, as will Nikos and Nikoleta.

The godparents will be included in the celebrations too as the role is given great importance in Greek life. So when the bells sound early in the morning it is always handy to have a calendar of the Greek name days available, to remind you if any of your friends are celebrating their name day that day.

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