The Greek name day calendar: how the εορτολόγιο works and how parishes use it

In Greece, few words are searched for as often as «εορτολόγιο», the name day calendar. Every morning people want to know who is celebrating today, so they can send a message, ring a friend or call round with good wishes. Behind that simple question sits the liturgical calendar of the Orthodox Church, which has its own logic. Once you understand it, you can read the calendar with confidence and know when it is worth double-checking.

What the name day calendar is

The εορτολόγιο lists the feasts of the Church day by day: the great feasts of Christ and of the Mother of God, the commemorations of the saints and the fasting seasons. Name days follow from this list, because each baptismal name is linked to a saint or a feast. Every day of the year commemorates more than one saint, so a complete calendar will often show several names on the same date.

Fixed feasts: the same date every year

Most feasts are fixed, which means they fall on the same date each year. A few well-known examples:

• 15 August: the Dormition of the Mother of God, when many names are celebrated, including Maria, Panagiotis and Panagiota, and Despina.
• 26 October: Saint Demetrios, for Dimitris and Dimitra.
• 6 December: Saint Nicholas, for Nikos, Nikoleta and their many variants.

For fixed feasts the calendar is straightforward: the date you see this year will hold next year too.

Movable feasts: everything starts from Pascha

Part of the Church year depends on the date of Pascha, the Orthodox Easter, which changes every year. The Triodion period before Pascha and the Pentecostarion period after it move together with it, and so do the feasts within them, such as the Ascension and Pentecost.

Saint George is the classic special case. His feast is on 23 April, but when that date falls before Pascha, during Great Lent or Holy Week, the celebration is moved to after Pascha. That is why a good name day calendar cannot rely on a fixed table of dates alone: it has to calculate Pascha for each year. If the George or Georgia in your family asks when their name day is this year, the right answer always begins with when Pascha falls.

Name variants and local customs

The same name appears in many forms: formal, everyday, affectionate, masculine and feminine. Georgios is also Giorgos and Giorgakis; Aikaterini is also Katerina. A useful calendar connects all of these forms to the same feast, so you find the name however it is spelt, including in Latin letters.

Some names are linked to more than one saint, so the family chooses which day to keep. Elsewhere a local tradition, or the patron saint of a town or island, gives a date more weight than it has in other places. When a name has no corresponding saint, it is customary to celebrate on the Sunday of All Saints. If in doubt, your parish priest is the best guide.

Why name days matter so much

In Greek tradition a name day often matters more than a birthday. The name was given at baptism and links a person to a saint who protects them and offers an example of life. So on the day many people go to the Divine Liturgy, light a candle before the icon of their saint and receive good wishes from family and friends. In many homes the custom of the open house is still alive, and anyone who remembers is welcome to drop by and say «Χρόνια πολλά», many happy returns. For more on the greetings themselves, see our guide to name days.

How a parish can use the calendar

For a parish, the name day calendar is more than information. It is a way of staying close to people. Some practical ideas:

• Greetings to parishioners: a short message from the priest on someone's name day shows that the community remembers each person.
• The services calendar: great feasts and saints honoured especially in your church go into the schedule in good time.
• The patronal feast: the feast of the saint to whom the church is dedicated is planned weeks ahead, with volunteers and refreshments.
• Accurate records: greetings only work if the register holds correct names and parishioners have agreed to receive messages.

That last point matters. Before a parish sends messages, it should ask parishioners whether they want them and through which channel. Our article on GDPR for parishes explains how.

Tips so you never miss a name day

At the start of each year, once you know the date of Pascha, put the name days of the people close to you into your diary. For names that move, check the date again every year. And if different sources give different dates, do not worry: it is usually a different saint with the same name, or a local custom.

Convivia is being designed so that a parish can see which parishioners are celebrating each day and send greetings in a few clicks, with movable feasts calculated automatically. Explore the features.