Everyone in the world is familiar with birthdays, a celebration once a year to acknowledge your birth, which is celebrated with friends and family. Typically, we have a party and gifts are received. Well, in addition to birthdays, here in the Czech Republic they have name days.
The tradition stems from the Roman Catholic and Greek Orthodox calendars of saints. Both churches commemorated saintly people by holding feasts and celebrations in their honor on a specific day, much like we still do today.
Until the Velvet Revolution in 1989, which signified the end of Communism in the Czech Republic, there was an official committee that decided the dates for which specific names would be celebrated on the calendar, and if new names should be added. This committee basically took over the church's responsibilities. The names on the calendars were carefully chosen Czech names; the only names Czech people could have. In fact, I've been told that during Communist times, you had to ask permission if you wanted to give your child a non-Czech name, and it was usually denied!
When Communism ended, the official committee was dissolved. This means the calendar companies regulate name days. Also, western society has greatly influenced the Czech Republic, as a few children no longer have traditional Czech names. However, today you will still be asked why you want to give your child a different name or spell it differently than Czech tradition. I like the idea of there being a limited number of names, because it makes my life as a teacher really easy in terms of knowing my students' names :)
Want to find out if you have a Name Day? My name is most compatible with the Czech name Laura, so my name day is June 1st. Ironically, that was my dad's birthday, so it's very bittersweet. I've provided a link if you're curious to see when your Name Day would be celebrated!
Name Day Calendar
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