The Polish custom of namedays
24.07.2007
July 26 is St Anna’s Day, where literally millions of Poles celebrate with us much enthusiasm as you would a birthday.
By Anna Piwowarska
This Thursday, there will be hundreds of women and girls walking the streets of Warsaw carrying flowers. You can go up to any of these women and say “Best wishes, Ania” and I promise you that you won’t make a fool of yourself. Why? Because in Poland the 26th July is St. Anna’s day, that is the name day of Anna. And believe me, there are a lot of Anna’s in Poland – me included.
Each name has one or more days in the year which people with that particular name can celebrate. The date usually derives from the birthday of the Saint or of a famous historical figure with that name. Name days are a popular celebration in Poland and other Catholic countries but are also celebrated in Sweden, Greece, Hungary, the Czech Republic and Russia. Unfortunately, name days are slowly dying out and are rarely celebrated by my generation.
This saddens as I’m a big fan of them. While birthdays are enjoyed mainly by children and young people, people over the age of thirty don’t often like to celebrate the fact that they’re getting older. Name days are a celebration that people of all ages can enjoy together. Also, there is something less personal about them than birthdays, meaning that work colleagues, distant family and acquaintances can also join in on the fun. For even if someone doesn’t know you that well, the one thing they will know about you is your name and that means that they’ll know when your name day is. Also, the brilliant thing about name days is that, as opposed to birthdays, you can’t forget them. They’re written on calendars, announced each morning on the radio and printed in newspapers. Everyone has a chance to wish all the best to all the Ania's, Piotr's even the Hipolit’s that they know.
Of course, there are a few disadvantages. The presents that you get are usually not as good as birthday presents (a red carnation is the standard). Also, you usually have to provide the cake yourself. And although many names have more than one name day during the year, you can only celebrate one (the day that comes closest after your birthday). There are also those poor people that don’t have a name day – my husband Kordian is one of them (but then that’s what you get for having artistic parents who insist on giving you a weird name).
During pre-Christian times, the majority of names in Poland were of Slavic origin. This fact is recorded in the 1136 Gniezno Papal Bull that was issued by Pope Innocent II and lists the property owned by the Archbishop of Gniezno. The document lists over 300 names of village inhabitants that include soldiers, peasants and brewers.
The names included are rather strange, to say the least. Some of my favourites include Chrap (which translated literally means ‘snore’), Goły (which means ‘naked’) and Pępik (which is just a funny word in itself). As Christianity grew stronger, these names were overtaken by Christian names. There were those of a Greek origins, like Agnieszka which comes from the Greek word ‘hagnos’ which means ’pure’ and is still a popular name today, having as many as six name days during the year. There were those of Latin origin, like Łucja which comes from the Latin word ‘łuciu’ which means “born at sunrise”.
Then of course, there were Hebrew names from the Old Testament like Jakub and to lesser degree Germanic names, like Robert. The bible was and is probably the most popular source of names, the most popular are those of the apostles Jan, Łukasz, Matuesz and Mark. There were also the names of martyrs, archbishops, members of ruling dynasties, and the founders of monasteries and nunneries. Neighbouring countries such as Germany, Russia and the Czech Republic also made their mark in the name stakes. In 1563 all names that did not come from Saints were banned so legally you had to stick to the Christian calendar. Since then saints names are still favoured by most Polish parents.
During the partitions of Poland, there was a return to Slavic names in the spirit of patriotiscism. Names such as Miłosław, Bronisław and Bolesław were placed in the calendar as a way of keeping the non-existent Poland alive. During the postwar period there was also a boom in Slavic names such as Sławomir or Zbigniew and their female equivalents. Then in the twentieth century that was a massive influx of English, French and German names, the worst examples of these being spelt in Polish. So, for example ‘Dżesika’ would be spelt with a ‘dż’ rather than a ‘j’. Doesn’t seem, quite right, does it? Anyway, thankfully it seems that the oldies are still the goldies.
Jakub was very popular in the middle ages but by the nineteenth century was restricted mainly to the Jewish and rural population. However, in the 21st century it was back on the name hit list, so much so that this month it was the number one ranking name in Warsaw. Others in the top five include other biblical favourites such as Matuesz and Jan, although there is a more modern accent with Kacper at number three.
Today’s most popular girls’ names are a little more contemporary – Julia, Zuzanna and Natalia come high on the list. Although Anna (in thirteenth place in the most recent poles) has not gone out of fashion yet and that is why you will see so many ladies carrying flowers on Thursday. So, make sure that you count all the Ania’s that you know. And if you’re feeling lazy you can simply send them the same text message wishes to all the Ania’s in your phone contact list…