Greek Name Days

Greek Name Days & Public Holidays 2007
by www.CreteOnThe.Net

GREEK PUBLIC HOLIDAYS 2007
Jan.01	Sat.- New Year?s Day	Apr.09	Orthodox Easter Monday
Jan.06	Thurs.- Epiphany	May.01	Mon.- Labour Day
Mar.06	Shrove Monday	June.12	Whit Monday
Mar.25	Sat.- National Holiday	Aug.15	Tue.- Assumption
Apr.08	Catholic Easter	Oct.28	Sat.- National Holiday
Apr.06	Orthodox Good Friday	Dec.25	Mon.- Christmas
Apr.08	Orthodox Easter	Dec.26	Tue.- Boxing Day

Name Days, not birthdays, are celebrated in Greece. Great significance is attached to the name given a child, and the process of choosing a name follows fairly rigid conventions. The idea of a child being given a name just because the parents like the sound of it is unknown in Greece. Even naming a child after someone as a mark of respect or admiration is unusual.

Children are never named after parents, but the eldest son in a family is often called after his paternal grandfather and the oldest daughter after her paternal grandmother. Names are usually of religious origin. Each island or area in Greece has a patron saint, and people living in that area often name a child after its patron saint.

Each saint has a special feast day. A person's name day is the feast day of the saint after which they were named. On someone's name day, open house is held and a feast is laid on for the friends and neighbours who call. They will give a small gift to the person whose names day it is, but there is less emphasis on the giving of presents than there is in birthday celebrations.

JANUARY

January 1 - New Year's Day - Agios Basileios, Vassilis (Basil)
January 6 - Theofania, Theofanis, Fotis, Fanis, Fotini
January 7 - Synaksi Ioannos, Ioannis, Yannis (John)
January 8 - Dominikis
January 10 - Grigorios Nussis
January 11 - Theodosios, Thodoris (Theodore)
January 17 - Antonios, Antonis, Antonios (Anthony)
January 18 - Athanasios & Kurillos, Thanassis
January 19 - Makarios, Makarios
January 20 - Eythimios, Thimios
January 21 - Maximos, Massimos/ Neofytos / Agnis (Agnes)
January 22 - Anastasios / Timothetos, Tassos
January 23 - Agathagellos
January 24 - Xenis, Xeni
January 25 - Grigorios Theologos / Margarita, Grigoris, Grigorios (Gregory)
January 26 - Xenofontos
January 29 - Ignatios
January 30 - Trion Ierarxon
January 31 - Kyros & Ioannos Aaron

FEBRUARY

February 1 - Tryfonos
February 2 - Ypapanti tos Sotiros
February 5 - Agathis (Agatha)
February 6 - Voskolos / Fotios
February 7 - Parthenios
February 8 - Zaxarios / Theod. Stratilatos
February 9 - Nikiforos
February 10 - Charalampous / Zinonos, Haralambos, Hara, Hariklia
February 11 - Vasios
February 12 - Meletios
February 13 - Akula & Priskillis (Priscilla)
February 14 - Ayxentios, Valentini, St. Valentine
February 15 - Eusevios
February 17 - Theodoros Tironos / Poulcherias
February 18 - Leontos Romis
February 20 - Agathonos / Vissarionos
February 22 - Anthi (Anthea)
February 23 - Polykarpos
February 23 - Nestoros
February 25 - Tarasios
February 26 - Porfurios

MARCH

March 1 - Marias Aigyptias
- Eudokias / Tis Tyrofagos
March 2 - Euthalias
March 3 - Kleonikos
March 5 - Kononos
March 7 - Laurentios (Laurens)
March 8 - Theofulaktos
March 16 - Xristodoslos
March 17 - Alexios, Alexios, Alexis (Alex)
March 18 - Kurillos
March 19 - Xrysanthos, Chrisantos
March 21 - Iakovos
March 25 - Euagelismos tis Theotokos, Evagelos, Eva, Vangelis
March 27 - Ilarionos, Lydia
March 31 - Ypatios

APRIL

April 6 - Eutyxios
April 15 - Leonidas (Leo)
April 23 - Ag. Georgios, Giorgos, Yorgos (George)
April 24 - Elisabet (Elisabeth, Lisa)
April 25 - Marcos (Mark)

MAY

May 2 - Zoodochos Pigis
May 3 - Timotheos (Timothy)
May 4 - Pelagias
May 5 - Eirinis, Irini (Irene)
May 6 - Serafim
May 7 - Akakios
May 9 - Christoforos (Chris)
May 10 - Simonos (Simon)
May 11 - Kurillos & Methodos
May 13 - Sergios, Sergios/ Glykerias, Glykeria (Sergio)
May 15 - Paxomios
May 17 - Andronikos
May 18 - Ioulias, Ioulia (Julia, July, Julie)
May 19 - Menandrios
May 21 - Konstantinos & Elenis, Konstantinos, Kostas, Thina, Kostathina, Eleni (Helen)
May 27 - Ioannos Rosos
May 28 - Tis Analipseos
May 29 - Theodosias
May 30 - Isaakios (Isaac)

JUNE

June 2 - Nikiforos
June 4 - Marthas & Marias, Martha
June 5 - Dorotheos (Dorothea, Dorothy)
June 7 - Sevastianis (Sebastian)
June 8 - Kalliopis
June 11 - Vartholomaios / Varnava
June 22 - Zinonos
June 29 - Petros & Paulos, Petros, Pavlos (Peter, Paul)
June 30 - Sunaksi ton 12 Apostolon, Apostolis, Apostolos

JULY

July 1 - Kosma & Damianos (Damian)
July 3 - Yakinthos
July 7 - Kuriakis, Kiriaki
July 8 - Theofilos / Prokopios
July 9 - Pagratios
July 11 - Eufimias / Olgas
July 12 - Veronikis (Veronica)
July 14 - Nikodimos
July 16 - Athinogenoss
July 17 - Marinas, Marina
July 18 - Aimilianos (Emile)
July 20 - Profiti Elia, Ilias
July 22 - Marias Magdalinis, Magdalini, Magda, Magdalena, Lena
July 26 - Parakseuis
July 27 - Panteleimonos, Pantelis
July 29 - Kallinikos
July 31 - Iosif Arimatheias, Iosif, Sifi

AUGUST

August 6 - Sotiris, Sotiria
August 7 - Asterios
August 15 - Assumption Day - Koimisis tis Theotokos, Panayotis, Panagiotis, Maria, Despina, Thespina, Marios
August 24 - Kosma tos Aitolos
August 26 - Andrianos & Natalias, Adrianos, Nathalia, Natalia (Adrian)
August 27 - Fanourios
August 30 - Alexandros, Alexandros
(Alexandra, Sandra, Sander, Alexander)

SEPTEMBER

September 1 - Simeon
September 3 - Anthimos
September 4 - Moisi/Ermionis
September 5 - Zaxarios, Zacharias
September 8 - Gennisi tis Theotokos
September 9 - Ioakeim & Annis
September 11 - Evathia (Eve)
September 13 - Kornilios / Aristeidos
September 14 - Ypsosi tos Timios Stauros, Stavros (Steven)
September 15 - Nikita
September 16 - Eyfimias
September 17 - Sofias, Pisteos, Agapis, Elpidas, Sofia, Agapi, Elpida
September 18 - Eumenios / Ariadnis (Ariadne)
September 20 - Eustathios, Stathis
September 22 - Fokas
September 23 - Sullipsi Prodromos
September 24 - Theklas
September 25 - Eyfrosinis
September 26 - Metastasi Ioannos Euaggelistos
September 27 - Kallistratos
September 29 - Kuriakos, Kiriakos

OCTOBER

October 1 - Ananios / Pomanos Melodos
October 2 - Kuprianos / Iosstiounis
October 3 - Dionisios Aeropagitos, Dionisos
October 4 - Ierotheos
October 5 - Xaritinis
October 6 - Thoma (Thomas, Tom)
October 7 - Poluxronios
October 8 - Pelagias
October 9 - Iakovos (Jakob)
October 10 - Eulampios
October 15 - Loskianos
October 18 - Loska, Loskas (Lucas, Luke)
October 19 - Kleopatras
October 20 - Artemios / Gerasimos Kefallinias, Yerasimos
October 21 - Sokratous, Sokrates, Sokratis
October 23 - Iakovos (Jacob)
October 24 - Sevastianis (Sebastian)
October 26 - Dimitrios Myrovlitos, Dimitris, Dimitrios, Dimitria (Jim, James)
October 27 - Nestoros
October 28 - Agias Skepis
October 30 - Zinovios

NOVEMBER

November 1 - Ag. Anarron/ Kosma & Damianos, Anargiros, Argiris, Kosmas, Damianos (Damian)
November 8 - Mixael & Gavriel, Mixalis, Michail, Michali, Angelos, Stamatis, Stamos (Michael, Angelo, Gabriel)
November 9 - Nektarios
November 11 - Mina / Viktoros (Victor)
November 13 - Ioannos Xrysostomos
November 14 - Filippos, Philippos (Philip)
November 16 - Mathaios (Matthias)
November 18 - Platonos
November 21 - Eisodia tis Theotokos, Despina, Maria (unmarried)
November 22 - Filimonos
November 25 - Merkourios / Aikaterinis, Katerina (Catherine)
November 26 - Stulianos, Stella, Stelios, Stylianos
November 27 - Nathanail
November 30 - Andrea, Andreas (Andrew)

DECEMBER

December 1 - Theoklitos
December 2 - Muropis
December 4 - Varvaras, Barbara
December 5 - Savva, Savas
December 6 - Nikolaos, Nikos
December 7 - Amvrosios, Ambrosius
December 9 - Agias Annis, Anna
December 12 - Spuridonos, Spiros
December 13 - Eustratios / Loskias, Stratos, Stratis, Lukia
December 15 - Eleutherios, Elefterios, Lefteris
December 17 - Daniel / Dionysios Zakunthos, Dionysos
December 18 - Sevastianos & Zois
December 19 - Aglaias
December 20 - Ignatios
December 21 - Themistokleous, Ioulia, Julia, Julie
December 22 - Anastasias, Anastasia
December 24 - Eugenias, Evyenia
December 25 - Christmas Day, Christos, Chrisa, Chrisanthi, Christina
December 26 - Emmanouil / Synaksi Theotokos, Manolis, Manuella, Emma
December 27 - Stefanos, Stephania (Steven, Stephan, Stefania)

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