NOVEMBER 06, 2023

GREECE

NAMES DAY
ASHLEY AJ DAWN P. DE VERA
1 BA ECONOMICS
ΧΡΌΝΙΑ ΠΟΛΛΆ ΓΙΑ ΤΗ
ΓΙΟΡΤΉ ΣΟΥ!

HRÓNIA POLÁ YA TEE

YORTEE SU!

HAPPY NAME DAY!

WHAT'S SO INTERESTING ?

We’re used to birthdays as the one day of the year

where we celebrate our friends and loved ones
existing. Birthdays have gained international
acceptance as our ‘special day’ of the year where
we receive gifts and have parties in our honor.

But that is not the only day you

get to celebrate you in Greece!

In fact, celebrating birthdays is a relatively

recent tradition in Greece. What was
celebrated instead, and is still celebrated
today, is the person’s name day.
 BACKGROUND
Cultural context

Greece is a country with a lot of dire history,

For Greeks, their name
where people grew up not even knowing exactly
day is as important as
when they were born. The older generations,
their birthday. Often, it’s
especially around World War II and earlier, weren’t
more important than
quite certain of the year of their birth and only
their birthday!
had an approximate estimate of their age.

Therefore, the solidly certain day to

celebrate their existence wasn’t the
birthday but rather the name day, because
that was the one date of significance they
could easily and commonly cite.
 HOW NAMES ARE GIVEN IN
GREECE?

However, whose name the baby gets to carry is

often cause for contention between the
The traditional way for spouses’ parents. This is solved by the baby
choosing a name for a baby getting two names, one of each, or even getting
is for them to get the name no name from the grandparents, but a
of one of their completely new one that the parents choose.
grandparents. The most
traditional way was for the
firstborn to be named after
the paternal grandparents Priests would often also demand that ancient
(the grandma or the Greek names be coupled with a Christian
grandpa) and the second name if there is no saint or martyr already
born after the maternal carrying it, though that depends a lot on the
grandparents. priest and their sensibilities.
What if a Greek person has a name that
isn’t a direct match to any of the saints or
martyrs on the Greek Orthodox calendar?
Don’t they get a name day?

Of course they do!

They celebrate their name day on “All Saints Day” which is the day
where all the nameless Christians who died for their faith over the
centuries are commemorated together with the named ones.
Though it is celebrated on November 1st in the West, for the Greek
Orthodox Church it’s yet another floating name day that is
celebrated the first Sunday after Pentecost.
 HOW NAME DAYS ARE
CELEBRATED IN GREECE?
 HOW NAME DAYS ARE
CELEBRATED IN GREECE?

EVEN IF YOU DON’T OPT

THE CUSTOM DEMANDS IF YOU DO DROP IN, FOR DROPPING IN FOR
THAT NAME DAYS IN YOU’RE EXPECTED TO YOUR WELL WISHES, YOU
GREECE ARE “OPEN DO SO WITH “FULL ARE EXPECTED TO PHONE
HOUSE” DAYS FOR THE HANDS”: YOU MUST THE PERSON TO WISH
PERSON WHO IS HAVE AT LEAST A BOX THEM WELL.

CELEBRATING. THAT OF SWEETS, OR A

NOT CALLING OR EVEN
MEANS THAT WHOEVER BOUQUET OF FLOWERS LEAVING A NOTE OF WELL
IS WILLING TO DROP IN OR FLOWERPOT TO WISHES IS CONSIDERED A
AND PAY A VISIT, CAN! WISH THE PERSON SERIOUS SOCIAL FAUX PAS
THEY DON’T NEED TO WELL. GIFTS ARE ALSO OR AN INTENTIONAL SNUB.
CALL AHEAD OR BE GIVEN, JUST LIKE ON PEOPLE CAN GET
OFFENDED IF YOU FORGET
INVITED TO DO IT. BIRTHDAYS.
THEIR NAME DAY.
 Name days also have an
existential connotation to them,
at least in tradition: a name
being given to a child had the
significance of a wish or even a
foreshadowing of the baby’s
future virtues that should be
pursued.
BELIEFS
Influence on daily life
Therefore, each person having the
name of a saint was expected to
strive and become as virtuous and
with integrity as them, ‘to honor
their name’. That’s why when the
saint is ‘celebrating’ on their feast
day, so is the person carrying that
same name.
IT’S EASY TO UNDERSTAND, THEREFORE, THAT
FORGETTING SOMEONE’S BIRTHDAY IN GREECE
IS A FAR MORE PARDONABLE OFFENSE THAN
FORGETTING THEIR NAME-DAY!
SUMMARIZED
FINDINGS Traditionally and religiously,
name days are about honoring
the saint whose name you
Every day of the year is carry. Your name is your
dedicated to some Christian religious identity
saint or martyr. When
someone is named after one Nowadays namedays are
of these saints, that saint's considered much more
celebration day becomes important (and easier to
his/her “name day.” remember) than a person's
actual birthday.
In Greece people celebrate
their namedays with
gatherings and gifts much like
an actual birthday.
THANK
YOU!
Ashley AJ Dawn P. De Vera
1 BA ECONOMICS
Purposive Communication
Midterm Project
November 6, 2023
 REFERENCES
https://greecetravelideas.com/name-days-in-
greece/#:~:text=Name%20days%20are%20the%20days,of%20Christendo
m%20in%20the%20past.

https://www.greeka.com/greece-culture/traditions/