Polish people are like the Queen of England, they effectively have two Birthdays, yes you heard me TWO Birthdays. So they have their actual Birthday or Urodziny and they have their Name Day or Imieniny.
Whatever you do, do not forget……
If like I did, you are wondering just how much importance is put on the name day, well the first year I just didn’t know, the second I remembered a day too late and despite it being dropped into many a conversation the third year was a complete cock up on my behalf and I completely forgot. Now Polish women are patient, but they can be a force to be reckoned with when angry…….. since that time I have almost never forgotten again.
For many people they hold as much importance, if not more as their birthdays. It gets even more important the older the person get, when they would rather be reminded of their name than their age.
So what exactly is a name day?
In most central and eastern European countries that have Catholic or Orthodox Christian cultures children are traditionally given are often named after saints. In the Christian calendar everyday as a saint attached to it, at least one male and one female, most days have several names attached to it. Ania’s (Anna) is on the 26th July, however some names appear several times. Her mother, Maria, appears like 28 times give or take a few. They cant be greedy though and they usually celebrate the one that comes first after their Urodziny.
Older tradition dictates that the name given to a baby is the saints day closest to their baptism, things have changed and this isn’t really practiced, but at one time or another this was actually made law by the church.
Celebration
In Poland it doesn’t take much of an excuse to have pierogi, cake or vodka and celebrating a name day is no exception. Usually a coming together of close friends and family, sharing good drink, excellent food and great company is all you need. Greetings are generally universal and ‘sto lat’ (a hundred years) and ‘Wszystkiego najlepszego’ (all the best) will always see you home and dry. Small gifts such as a box of chocolates, perfume or a bottle of wine are usually a nice touch.
Feeling left out….
On one my first name day celebrations whilst visiting Łomnica Zdrój, me being me with all the faux outrage I could muster exclaimed how unfair it was that I did not have a name day. So looking for another excuse for us all to get together, Karolina (the wife of Ania’s cousin Tomek) helped me find a suitable name day within the two weeks were visiting , and low and behold it just happened that I could share it with her, and forever and a more my adopted Polish name became Karol.
Malenki
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