Your name day is the feast day of the saint you’re named after. You celebrate it by going to church, honoring your patron saint, and sharing hospitality with others.
It’s not about you, really. That’s the first thing to understand. Your birthday celebrates the day you were born. Your name day celebrates the saint whose name you bear, the one who prays for you before God’s throne. When you were baptized, you received a saint’s name. That saint became your patron, your heavenly friend, your example of how to follow Christ. Once a year, the Church remembers that saint’s life and death. That’s your name day.
The most important thing you can do is attend Divine Liturgy. If your saint’s feast falls on a weekday and you work at the refinery on a twelve-hour shift, you might not make it. That’s okay. But if you can go, go. Receive Communion if you’re prepared. Venerate your saint’s icon. Ask your priest beforehand if he can bring the icon out, or bring your own from home. Stand before it after Liturgy and ask your patron to pray for you. You’re not alone in this life. Your saint knows what it means to struggle, to suffer, to choose Christ when it’s hard.
At home, display your saint’s icon prominently that day. Read their life to your family. If you’ve got kids, tell them the stories. St. George fought the dragon. St. Nicholas punched a heretic and saved three girls from slavery. St. Mary of Egypt spent forty-seven years in the desert eating nothing but three loaves of bread and whatever grew wild. These aren’t fairy tales. They’re your family.
Sing your saint’s troparion if you know it. You can find troparia online or in service books. Even if you can’t carry a tune, sing it anyway. The words matter more than your pitch.
Then feed people. This is huge in Orthodox tradition. Invite family and friends over. Make something special. It doesn’t have to be elaborate. In some places, people throw open their doors all day and anyone can drop by. In Southeast Texas, that might look like texting your church friends to come by after Vespers for cake and coffee. Or grilling burgers on Saturday afternoon. Or bringing koliva to coffee hour on Sunday if your saint’s day fell during the week and you couldn’t celebrate properly.
The food isn’t the point, though it’s part of the joy. Hospitality is. You’re sharing the celebration of your saint with others. You’re saying, “Look at this person who loved Christ so much. Let’s remember them together.”
Some people give small gifts on their name day instead of receiving them. I’ve seen this more in Greek practice, but it’s a beautiful reversal of birthday expectations. You’re the one who benefits from having this saint as your patron, so you share that blessing.
If your name day falls during a fasting period, you still celebrate, but you keep the fast. Make something special within the fasting rules. The Church doesn’t ask you to ignore your patron’s feast, but neither does it suspend the discipline of the season.
One more thing. If you don’t know when your name day is, ask your priest. Some names have multiple saints. If you’re named Michael, there are several. Your priest will help you figure out which St. Michael is yours, probably based on when you were baptized or chrismated. Once you know, mark it on your calendar. It matters more than your birthday, spiritually speaking. Your birthday marks when you entered this world. Your name day connects you to the saint who’s helping you enter the next.
Start simple this year. Go to Liturgy if you can. Light a candle. Say your saint’s troparion. Invite a couple of people over for dessert. You’ll find your own rhythm with it. The point isn’t to perform some elaborate ritual. The point is to honor the saint who bears your name and to ask their continued prayers as you try, however imperfectly, to follow Christ as they did.
