Names of the Apostles: Petros, Andreas, Thomas, Filippos and their name days

Several of the most familiar Greek men's names belong to the men Christ chose as his first disciples: Petros (Peter), Andreas (Andrew), Thomas, Filippos (Philip) and Matthaios (Matthew). Each apostle has a feast of his own, and at the end of June two days in a row honour them together. This guide goes through the Twelve, their dates in this calendar and the names celebrated on them.

Who the Twelve are

On its page for the Synaxis of the Holy Twelve Apostles, saint.gr lists the twelve whom the Church honours, leaving out Judas Iscariot: Simon (Peter), Andrew, James, John, Philip, Thomas, Bartholomew, whom it identifies with Nathanael, Matthew, James son of Alphaeus, Simon the Zealot, Jude the brother of James the Less, and Matthias. Matthias is the latecomer: he was elected in the upper room shortly before Pentecost to fill the place left by Judas.

The word itself became a name. Behind the Name explains Apostolos as “messenger, apostle”, from apo, “from”, and stello, “to send”: an apostle is someone sent out. Because the name stands for the title rather than for one man, Apostolos and Apostolia celebrate on the feast of all twelve, 30 June.

29 and 30 June

On 29 June the Church honours Saint Peter and Saint Paul together; saint.gr calls them the protokoryphaioi, the foremost of the apostles. Paul was not one of the Twelve. At first a persecutor of the Christians, he saw Christ around AD 36 on the road to Damascus and became, in saint.gr's words, the founder of the Church of Greece. According to tradition, which saint.gr says is not fully confirmed by history, both died in Rome under Nero: Peter was crucified head downwards around 64, and Paul was beheaded between 64 and 67.

29 June is the name day of Petros and Petroula, of Pavlos and Pavlina. Peter is honoured again the next day at the synaxis of 30 June, which, as saint.gr explains, does not retell the apostles' lives but recalls the unity that bound them.

The feast of Peter and Paul also ends the Apostles' Fast. The fast begins after All Saints' Sunday, which depends on Easter, and ends on the fixed date of 29 June, so its length changes every year. In 2026 it lasted 21 days. In 2027, with Easter late on 2 May, All Saints' Sunday falls on 27 June and only 28 June is left; in 2028 the fast lasts 17 days. On the old calendar it is longer: see old and new calendar.

The fishermen of Galilee

Four of the Twelve fished on the Lake of Gennesaret, two pairs of brothers: Peter and Andrew, James and John.

• [Andrew](saint:andreas), [30 November](date:11-30). Like Peter, a son of Jonah from Bethsaida. saint.gr says he had been a disciple of John the Baptist and was the first of all to be called, hence his title Protokletos, the First-Called. Tradition places his death at Patras, on an X-shaped cross. Name day of Andreas.
• [James son of Zebedee](saint:iakovos-zevedaiou), [30 April](date:4-30). He, his younger brother John and their father had a boat of their own, and for their zeal the two brothers were called the sons of thunder. In AD 44, saint.gr writes, he was beheaded on the orders of Herod Agrippa. Name day of Iakovos (James).
• [John the Theologian](saint:ioannis-theologos), [26 September](date:9-26) and [8 May](date:5-8). The beloved disciple, author of the fourth Gospel and of three epistles. The tradition the Church accepts, as saint.gr gives it, is that he died at a great age in Ephesus and that his tomb was later found empty. 8 May recalls the healing dust that, tradition says, rose from that tomb. Both dates are name days of Theologos.

The mother of the last two has a feast as well. Salome the Myrrhbearer, wife of Zebedee and, according to saint.gr, a first cousin of the Virgin, is honoured on 3 August, the name day of Salomi.

Philip, Bartholomew and Nathanael

• [Philip](saint:filippos), [14 November](date:11-14). Another man of Bethsaida, called by Christ himself; Philip then brought Nathanael to him. Tradition says he preached to the Parthians and was martyred at Hierapolis in Syria. Since before 1788 his head has been kept at the Monastery of the Holy Cross at Omodos, in Cyprus. Behind the Name translates Philippos as “friend of horses”, from philos and hippos. Filippos celebrates on 14 November, but Filippa does not: her day is 19 April, the feast of the martyr Theodore and his companions, a Philippa among them.
• [Bartholomew](saint:vartholomaios-varnavas), [11 June](date:6-11). His name is a patronymic: “son of Tholomaios” for saint.gr, “son of Talmai” for Behind the Name. saint.gr says he preached to the Indians, gave them the Gospel of Matthew and was crucified at Urbanopolis. He shares the day with Barnabas, a Levite from Cyprus and a co-worker of Paul, who is called an apostle although he was not one of the Twelve. Name day of Vartholomaios and Varnavas (Barnabas).

Nathanael is a puzzle. saint.gr's synaxis page equates him with Bartholomew, while its page for 22 April calls Saint Nathanael either Simon the Zealot or Bartholomew and points to 10 May for the main feast. In this calendar Nathanail celebrates on 22 April.

Thomas and Matthew

• [Thomas](saint:thomas), [6 October](date:10-6) and Thomas Sunday. saint.gr explains the name as a Hebrew word for “twin”. Thomas would not believe in the Resurrection until he had touched the wounds himself, and tradition says he was killed with spears in India. Besides the fixed date, Thomas and Thomais celebrate on the Sunday after Easter: 19 April in 2026, 9 May in 2027.
• [Matthew](saint:matthaios), [16 November](date:11-16). A tax collector called Levi, son of Alphaeus, whom Jesus found at the tax office outside Capernaum. saint.gr dates his Gospel, the first in the New Testament, to AD 64, and tradition sends him to Ethiopia. Behind the Name traces Matthaios to the Hebrew Mattithiah; saint.gr reads it as “gift of God”. Name day of Matthaios.

The less familiar apostles

• James son of Alphaeus. saint.gr makes him Matthew's brother, says he died on a cross and commemorates him on 9 October, which is not a name day in this calendar. Iakovos celebrates instead on 30 April and on 23 October, the feast of James the Brother of the Lord, who is not on the list of the Twelve. For all of his dates see names with several dates.
• [Simon the Zealot](saint:simon-zilotis), [10 May](date:5-10). According to saint.gr, the epithet comes from the zeal of his preaching, which took him to Persia, to Africa from Egypt to Mauretania and finally to Britain, where he was crucified. Behind the Name derives Simon from the Hebrew Shimon, “hearing, listening”; Simon was also Peter's name before he received the new one. Name day of Simon.
• Jude, or Thaddaeus. saint.gr commemorates an Apostle Jude on 19 June and an Apostle Thaddaeus on 21 August, and admits that their lives are confused. The scholar it quotes on 21 August holds that Jude, Thaddaeus and Lebbaeus are names of a single apostle, the brother of James the Less; Behind the Name likewise thinks that the Thaddaeus of Matthew's list and Jude are probably the same man. Neither name has a name day in this calendar.
• [Matthias](saint:s-0809-matthias), [9 August](date:8-9). After the Ascension the eleven put forward two men, Joseph called Barsabbas and Matthias, prayed and cast lots; the lot fell on Matthias. He later preached in Ethiopia, saint.gr says, and died there as a martyr. Name day of Matthias.

Apostles beyond the Twelve

The calendar gives the title of apostle to others too. The evangelists Mark (25 April) and Luke (18 October) are honoured as apostles and evangelists, on the name days of Markos and Loukas. Timothy on 22 January, the day of Timotheos, and Titus on 25 August, the day of Titos, are apostles as well. From the Apostles of the Seventy come Andronikos and Androniki, on 17 May with Andronicus and Junia, and Linos and Lina on 5 November.

A related title, Equal-to-the-Apostles (isapostolos), appears beside other names: Constantine and Helen on 21 May, for instance, and Nino of Georgia on 14 January. The women who bear it are presented in the guide to names of female saints.

Dates follow the new calendar of the Church of Greece. Communities on the old calendar celebrate fixed feasts 13 days later: Saints Peter and Paul, for example, on 12 July.