According to Greek Orthodox tradition, every day of the year is dedicated to a Christian saint or martyr. January 7 for example, is the day of Saint John the Baptist and it is the name day for all Greek people named Yannis (or Ioannis = John, male) or Yanna (or Ioanna, female). A person's Name Day is considered more important than the same person's actual birthday and it is always celebrated in Greece.

How do Greek people celebrate their name days?

If a friend of yours has his name day, then you should give him a call and wish him "Hronia Polla". If this is translated, then it means "Many Years" and it is a wish for good health and prosperity. You should ask him if he will accept visits at his house.

For birthday parties people invite their friends to their house for a drink or a birthday party but for name days this does not apply. It is up to you to visit your friend and wish him for his name day. Bringing a gift is necessary. Flowers or liquor are ok, as well as books, music CDs or something more personal.

It is also possible that your friend will invite you to a taverna or a bar on his name day. A gift is welcome in this case too.

Here is a list of some Name Days in Greece organised by date

January 1 - New Year's Day - Vasileios (Vasilis) - Vaso
January 6 - Theofania (Epiphany) - Fotis, Fotoula
January 7 - Ioannis - Ioanna or Yannis - Yanna
January 10 - Grigorios
January 11 - Theodosios
January 17 - Antonios
January 18 - Athanasios & Kurillos
January 20 - Eythimios
January 26 - Xenofontas

February 1 - Trifonas
February 8 - Zaharias
February 9 - Nikiforos
February 10 - Charalampos or Mpampis
February 17 - Theodoros

March 1 - Eudokia
March 16 - Xristodoulos
March 21 - Iakovos
March 25, Annunciation Day - Evangelos or Vangelis, Evangelia or Vangelio or Eva

April 23 - Georgios (Yorgos) - Georgia. If this name day is during the Easter Lent, then it is moved to the second day after Easter.

May 4 - Pelagia
May 5 - Eirini
May 9 - Christoforos
May 10 - Simonos
May 21 - Kostas (Konstantinos), Eleni

June 8 - Kalliopi
June 29 - Petros, Pavlos

July 1 - Kosmas, Damianos
July 3 - Iakinthos (the Cretan Saint Valentine)
July 7 - Kiriaki
July 8 - Theofilos
July 11 - Olga
July 17 - Marina
July 20 - Elias (Ilias)
July 26 - Paraskevi

August 15 - Assumption Day - Maria - Marios
August 24 - Kosmas
August 25 - Titos
August 30 - Alexandros

September 1 - Simeon
September 14 - Stavros - Stavroula
September 15 - Nikitas
September 29 - Kiriakos

October 3 - Dionisios
October 6 - Thomas
October 26 - Dimitrios

November 8 - Michalis, Angelos - Angela, Angeliki, Stamati, Stamatina, Maritina

November 9 - Nektarios
November 11 - Minas
November 14 - Filippos
November 16 - Mathaios
November 25 - Aikaterini (Katerina)
November 26 - Stilianos, Stelios - Stela
November 30 - Andreas (Andrew)

December 4 - Varvara
December 5 - Savvas
December 6 - Nikolaos, Nikos
December 9 - Anna
December 12 - Spiridon, Spiros
December 15 - Eleftherios, Lefteris
December 25 - Christmas Day, Manolis - Emmanouela - Christos
December 27 - Stefanos, Stefania