The Tradition of the Hungarian Name Day

A name day is a tradition that consists of celebrating the day of the year associated with one’s given name.

The concept of name days is similar to the more common birthday, except that the association of a name to a day is entirely arbitrary.

Name days (in Hungarian: névnap) are very popular, often as much as a person’s actual birthdate. Hungarians not only have birthday, but nameday as well. While birthdays are usually celebrated just in immediate family, namedays are widely known and celebrated. People usually give flowers, dessert or small gifts as present. A woman is typically given flowers on her name day by acquaintances, including in the workplace. The price of flowers often rises around the dates of popular names because of demand.

For men, a bottle of alcohol is a common gift on their name day. Some highly popular names have several name days; in that case, the person chooses on which day he or she wishes to celebrate it.

Hungarians are really crazy about name days. Especially older people rather celebrate their name days than their birthday which is basically drawing the attention away from their age.

by GAnina

Photo: blogger42.com

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