The biggest name days of the year in Greece

Someone in Greece celebrates a name day every day of the year, but a handful of dates stand out. On these days the country's most common names are celebrated, and the phone calls wishing “Chronia polla!” (“many years”) start early in the morning.

What makes a name day “big”

The first factor is simply how many people bear the name. Because children are traditionally named after their grandparents, the same names stay at the top for generations. Recent lists of the most frequent names given to newborns in Greece (2020–2022) are headed by Giorgos (George), Konstantinos, Giannis (John), Dimitris, Nikos (Nicholas) and Panagiotis for boys, and by Maria, Eleni (Helen), Katerina, Ioanna and Anastasia for girls.

It also matters whether several names share the day, as on the Synaxis of the Archangels, and whether the date is a major church feast or a public holiday, such as New Year's Day, 25 March, the Dormition on 15 August and Christmas. On a holiday most people are off work and have time to visit.

Winter and spring

• 1 January, Saint Basil: Vasilis (Basil) and Vasiliki. The feast falls on New Year's Day, when families cut the vasilopita, the New Year cake.
• 7 January, Synaxis of Saint John the Baptist: Giannis (John) and Ioanna, the day after Epiphany.
• 18 January, Saints Athanasius and Cyril: Thanasis and Athanasia, who also celebrate on 2 May.
• 25 March, the Annunciation: Vangelis and Evangelia, on the same day as Greek Independence Day.
• 23 April, Saint George: Giorgos (George) and Georgia. If the date falls before Easter or on Easter Sunday itself, the feast moves to Easter Monday; see why Saint George is sometimes celebrated after Easter.
• Easter Sunday: Anastasios, Anastasia, Lambros, Lamprini, Anestis and Paschalis. The date changes every year, as the guide to movable name days explains.
• 21 May, Saints Constantine and Helen: Konstantinos, Konstantina and Eleni. Three of the most common names celebrate on the same day.

Summer

• 29 June, Saints Peter and Paul: Petros, Pavlos, Petroula and Pavlina. The next day, the Synaxis of the Twelve Apostles, belongs to Apostolos and Apostolia.
• 20 July, the Prophet Elijah: Ilias.
• 26 July, Saint Paraskevi: Paraskevi, often called Voula or Evi, and Paraskevas.
• 15 August, the Dormition of the Virgin Mary: Maria, Panagiotis, Panagiota, Despina and Marios. With Maria and Panagiotis together, mid-August is one of the biggest name days of the year.

Autumn and December

• 14 September, the Exaltation of the Cross: Stavros and Stavroula, both names taken from σταυρός, “cross”.
• 17 September, Saint Sophia and her daughters: Sofia, Pisti, Elpida and Agapi, the Greek words for wisdom, faith, hope and love.
• 26 October, Saint Demetrius: Dimitris and Dimitra. On the same day Thessaloniki marks its liberation in 1912.
• 8 November, Synaxis of the Archangels: Michalis (Michael), Angelos, Angeliki, Gavriil (Gabriel), Michaela and Gavriela, one of the days with the most names.
• 25 November, Saint Catherine: Katerina. Andreas (Andrew) follows on 30 November.
• 6 December, Saint Nicholas: Nikos and Nikoleta. On 12 December it is the turn of Spyros and Spyridoula.
• 25 December, Christmas: Christos, Chrysoula, Manolis and Emmanouela, and many women named Christina. Manolis and Emmanouela celebrate again on 26 December, and Stefanos and Stefania follow on the 27th.

How not to miss anyone

On the big days most people have several friends or relatives to call. Some names also have more than one name day, such as Thanasis and Manolis, and others move with Easter. Check whose name day it is today or open the calendar to see the whole month at a glance.

The order of the names above is not a ranking. Lists of newborns' names only show which names are popular today, not exactly how many people celebrate on each date.