Name Day v. Birthday Celebrations

[really]

Do Greeks celebrate birthdays also or just name days?

I heard that name days are more important. What different things would you do to celebrate name day versus birthday?

[Prokomenos]

We celebrate both but name days are more of importance in Greece which makes sense in my opinion. In the states where Im at we still celebrate both but birthdays are usually a bigger celebration here. I guess you could call it being Americanized who knows lol.

[really]

Oh, I see. Greeks get two celebrations for name day/birthday, two celebrations for Easter, two celebrations for Christmas/Agios Nikolas, what else?
To view links or images in this forum your post count must be 1 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.

[Prokomenos]

Originally Posted by really
To view links or images in this forum your post count must be 1 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.

Oh, I see. Greeks get two celebrations for name day/birthday, two celebrations for Easter, two celebrations for Christmas/Agios Nikolas, what else?
To view links or images in this forum your post count must be 1 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.

Easter and Christmas we Greek Americans celebrate once a year. Christmas which is on 25 December and Greek Easter whichever day it falls on.

[really]

Why is the Greek Easter different from the Catholic Easter and why is it different every year? What does it depend on?

I ask the difference because Christmas (birthday) is the same day for the Greeks too.

I thought that Greeks celebrate also Saint Nicholas, I heard in Europe people do. I think it is sometimes just before Christmas.

[Ellinas]

Originally Posted by really
To view links or images in this forum your post count must be 1 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.

Do Greeks celebrate birthdays also or just name days?

I heard that name days are more important. What different things would you do to celebrate name day versus birthday?

As Prokomenos said, both birthdays and namedays can be celebrated, but the nameday celebration is much more important. Namedays are usually a lifetime value while birthdays are mostly celebrated by children or young people.

Originally Posted by really
To view links or images in this forum your post count must be 1 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.

Why is the Greek Easter different from the Catholic Easter and why is it different every year? What does it depend on?

I ask the difference because Christmas (birthday) is the same day for the Greeks too.

I thought that Greeks celebrate also Saint Nicholas, I heard in Europe people do. I think it is sometimes just before Christmas.

The Greek Agios Nikolaos does not identify with the Santa Klaus of the West. As a saint similar to Santa Klaus we have Agios Vasileios, and his day is the 1st of January (during the Christmas/New Years day celebrations). Agios Nikolaos has no relation with Christmas and his memory is honored in a different day.

The Greek Easter (Pascha) is celebrated the first Sunday after the full moon that follows the vernal equinox. I think the difference is that Greek Orthodoxy appoints the date according to the Iulian calendar while Catholicism according to the Gregorian calendar.

[Female]

Originally Posted by really
To view links or images in this forum your post count must be 1 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.

I thought that Greeks celebrate also Saint Nicholas, I heard in Europe people do. I think it is sometimes just before Christmas.

Here in Holland we celebrate Saint Nicholas also called Sint Nikolaas in Dutch and Saint Nicolas in French it is a holiday tradition in the Netherlands and Belgium, celebrated every year on Saint Nicholas' eve (December 5) or, in Belgium, on the morning of December 6.The feast celebrates the name day of Saint Nicholas, patron saint of children.
It is also celebrated to a lesser extent in parts of France (North, Alsace, Lorraine), as well as in Luxembourg, Switzerland, Germany, Austria, Poland and the Czech Republic). The traditions differ from country to country.

[really]

It must be hard to find a cake in the pastry shops if you happen to be Giorgos or Yannis.

Ellinas, why doesn't the birth day of Jesus fluctuate with the calendar too?

I like that, so many celebrations. How many days off (statutory holidays) do Greeks get for Christmas/New Year and for Easter?

Female, didn't Saint Nicholas actually originate from Holland or another close country, Denmark maybe? Ah, the children in Europe got to receive double treats and presents!
To view links or images in this forum your post count must be 1 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.

[Female]

Originally Posted by really
To view links or images in this forum your post count must be 1 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.

Female, didn't Saint Nicholas actually originate from Holland or another close country, Denmark maybe? Ah, the children in Europe got to receive double treats and presents!
To view links or images in this forum your post count must be 1 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.

Here you can read about it really:


To view links or images in this forum your post count must be 1 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.

[Ellinas]

Originally Posted by really
To view links or images in this forum your post count must be 1 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.

It must be hard to find a cake in the pastry shops if you happen to be Giorgos or Yannis.

Ellinas, why doesn't the birth day of Jesus fluctuate with the calendar too?

This is a good question, as both Christmas and Easter are dedicated to events that happened in a specific time. I don't know why Christmas were assigned to be on a specific date while the date Easter is depedant.

I can make a guess that the reason is an influence from the Jewish tradition of Easter? Because the Jewish Easter existed before Jesus came. I am not sure if the Jewish Easter has a specific day - if someone other here knows it would be helpful.

Originally Posted by really
To view links or images in this forum your post count must be 1 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.

I like that, so many celebrations. How many days off (statutory holidays) do Greeks get for Christmas/New Year and for Easter?

The official "free days" in Easter and Christmas are the first Monday after Easter and the 25th of December (Christmas). Work in these two days is forbidden by the Constitution.

The rest depends on the job and the employer. They are some business that don't let their employees have other free days than these two. Other business give some more free days to their employees - it can be four days or one week for example. The students have the most free days, as schools and Universities are closing for 2 weeks every Easter and Christmas.