Name days?

[Darklance]

I've read this term quite a few times and I've always taken it to be the ancient equivalent of birthday. However the dictionary lists it as ....

"name day
n.
1. The feast day of the saint after whom one is named.
2. The day on which one is baptized. "

Are we assuming that all people would be baptized on the day of their births or are their name days starting at some reappointed point such as reaching maturity?

 

[Crothian]

Some cultures you are named at birth, but you earn an adult name through your actions. On the day you get your Adult Name would be your Name Day.

 

[Darklance]

That would make sense but I've heard....."12th name day" etc. Would this be the 12th time that anniversary of the event came around?

 

[Crothian]

Can't really say. So much I just don't know. Hopefully some of the others will know more on this then I.

 

[Jamdin]

These sites may help explain the Swedish Name Day:

http://www.summersault.com/chris/travel/scotland/msg00018.html

http://www.scandinavius.com/sweden/seconnections/namesday/senamesday.html

Hope this helps you

 

[Darklance]

Thanks...it did. I'm still not sure if thats the way its been used in some places though.

 

[Suldulin]

When I did some research on the Celts a while back, I think I remember reading that they wouldn't name their children till after a certain amount of time, at which time they would also then be considered human, and not before, (for some reason this reminded me of DUNE at the time) persumably this may have been because of the high death rate back then. . .

I think the age I remember reading is 2-3 years, I'm not sure though as it's been a while

 

[mmu1]

Well, the way it works in Poland, is this:

Every day in the calendar has a name (names, really, always one male and one female, sometimes more than one) assigned to it - if the name happens to be that of a Christian saint, it falls on that saint's day, how the others were assigned I have no idea.

It's celebrated yearly by adults in lieu of a birthday - it's very similar in execution, aside from the fact that the cake (and candles) are strictly optional. Never bothered to find out the historical reasons for having name days, but I suppose the fact that you don't need to say WHICH name day it is, and that most people won't ask, can be one of the reasons.

Kids, on the other hand, have birthdays the same as in the US.

Then, there are people like my parents who emigrate and try to have their cake and eat it too - they celebrate their birthdays and see fit to nag their long-suffering kids about pointedly ignoring their name-days, even though... Oh, never mind.

 

[pensiv]

where name-days and baptism are concerned, back in the day, the child wasn't named until they were baptised. Our culture weened itself of that practice due to Birth Certificates, which require the child to be named when issued.

I remember that often if someone went by a nickname, they would refer to their real name as their Baptismal Name.

Also, there is one's confirmation name in many Christian traditions. Which in current culture gives one a new "middle" name being that of a saint of one's choosing.

 

[Melan]

mmu1: it is the same in Hungary. And it is usually celebrated like a normal birthday. Multiple chances to get presents this way!