Orthodox name by date of birth. Saints holidays

A person’s name has magical powers; it has always been shrouded in a veil of mystery and mysticism. A child’s name sometimes determines his entire future life and greatly influences it. Our wise ancestors knew about the karmic force and power that the name carries. The Slavs tried to protect their children from misfortunes with the help of a church name.

There was a special Orthodox calendar where newborns were chosen. The name (church name) was kept secret; it was not pronounced again in order to avoid the evil eye of the child. This, according to our ancestors, gave additional protection to a person from evil spirits.

The names of girls according to the church calendar are a wealth of unusually melodic names that never lose their relevance, distinguished by the amazing beauty of their sound. People who bear the names of saints or great martyrs who are the patrons of their birthday receive powerful protection from their Guardian Angel for the rest of their lives. This was believed in ancient times, but this tradition is still observed in our modern days.

How to choose the right church name for a girl according to the calendar

In the Christian church year, several saints are commemorated and celebrated every day. There are certain rules for choosing.

• First birthday. Based on the date of birth, one of several female names of the calendar is selected, which the child will bear. These church names for children have powerful powers and protect their owners from life’s adversities.
• Eighth day from birth. The number eight is a symbol of eternity, a holy number in Christianity. In ancient times, according to church regulations, children were baptized on their eighth birthday. Orthodox female names given to the saint on his eighth birthday bring their owners a bright path in life.
• Fortieth birthday. It is on this day that the baby is brought, according to Christian custom, to the temple for the ceremony.

If there are no saints born on these days or their names seem dissonant to parents, a shift of several days from the intended date is allowed for girls. Nowadays, the tradition of giving male and female church names is carefully observed. In honor of the saint in whose name a person is named, a name day (Angel's Day) is celebrated. When the baby grows up, he must definitely learn the life of the saint in whose honor he bears his name.

Naming Ritual or Baptism- This is a holy rite, a church sacrament. A person, receiving the name of his saint, acquires the help of the Light forces, which from the moment of Baptism take him under their guardianship and care. Name days in the old days were celebrated even with more style than birthdays. On the date of one’s name day, it is customary to go to church and light a candle for one’s patron.

You can independently choose a female name according to the calendar for your baby. It will help you with this. Just keep in mind that in the church calendar all dates follow the old style. To bring them into line with our usual calendar, we should add the number 13 to the date of birth.

Find out the meaning of other names

The female name Samira comes from the word “samar”, which is translated from Arabic as “night talk”. It also means “interlocutor” or “women...

The Slavic peoples have long had a tradition of giving their babies names that were borne by the Christians who glorified the church. At the moment, a huge number of people are arguing that some historical figures were canonized undeservedly or by mistake. However, even despite this fact, it is worth saying that most of the characters included in the church calendar called “Saints” really made a huge contribution to the development of Christianity.

Choosing the right one

Until now, many people choose a name for their daughter by looking through the Monthly Book, which offers a choice of girl names by month and date of birth. Male representatives, famous for their virtues, are also present in the Saints. In any case, regardless of gender, it is necessary to shift it eight days ahead from the baby’s date of birth. This tradition dates back to the heyday of Christianity. At that time, it was customary to baptize a baby on the eighth day after his birth. It was then that the name was chosen. This number - 8 - symbolizes the Kingdom of Heaven, to which everyone who has undergone the rite of baptism joins.

Matrons, nuns, martyrs

In the "Saints" the names of boys and the names of girls are placed on one line. The initial division occurs by month. Then there is a breakdown by day. In the Monthly Book, next to the name of the holy person, his/her type of activity is also indicated. For example, on January 1, the Orthodox Church celebrates the name day of Aglaida of Rome, matron. As a rule, preference is given to the options most often found in the Saints.

Origins

In this church calendar, the months are located next to their ancient Byzantine “colleagues”. The reason for this lies in the origins of Christianity. As you know, it was the Byzantine Empire that became the birthplace of the most widespread religion of our time. Therefore, even an unusual-sounding nickname can have truly Christian origins.

Familiar analogues

The most common names for girls by month are Mary, Joanna, Martha. Hieromartyrs, matrons, blessed, righteous and many other women are sung by the church every day. Many canonical names have long been forgotten. Some of them have been irretrievably lost, others have been modified in a modern way. For example, John. This name is not currently in use. It was replaced by a more familiar and familiar analogue to everyone - Zhanna. The same can be said about other Christian names for girls. For months and days Fotina, Nika, Marfa, etc. are no longer used. They have been successfully replaced by Svetlana, Veronica and Martha.

It is believed that having received the name of a holy person at baptism, the child acquires his Guardian Angel in her person. It is he who conveys the will of God to the baby, and then to the adult. Therefore, the day of baptism was previously celebrated more magnificently than the day of birth and was called Angel Day.

Holy Virgin Mary and Savior Jesus Christ

Every year, the “Saints”, which include boys’ names and girls’ names by month and day, change slightly. In particular, new personalities are included in the list and, accordingly, new Angels for newborn children appear. It is noteworthy that there is not a single entry in honor of Jesus Christ in the Monthly Book. The reverence felt before the son of God and the Savior does not allow mere mortals to be given such a name. Likewise with the Most Pure Mother of Jesus - the Virgin Mary. Girls are called by this name in honor of completely different holy personalities. The chanting of Mary takes place in the church about 40 times a year. That is why this name was previously very common.

Return to the past

Many traditions have sunk into oblivion. Some of them have found a second life. Now it has become popular again to name your child based on the “Saints”. Today the most common are the following by month and day:

1. Maria. Services in honor of holy women bearing this name are held about forty times a year. At the same time, sometimes it happens that the name days of several saints can be celebrated on the same day. For example, a service is held for Maria Lelyanova and Maria Portnova. Both of them are nuns.
2. Anastasia. This name has been and remains popular. In the Monthly Word, a holy person named Anastasia appears fifteen times. Some of them are revered by the church twice. For example, the Grand Duchess and passion-bearer Anastasia Romanova.
3. Christina. The original form of the modern name was the name Christina. The name days of holy women are celebrated several times a year: March 26, the last day of May, June 13, August 6 and 18. At the same time, on each individual day, a separate person is honored.

Olga of July and Euphrosyne of February

Let's see which month this or that female name belongs to.

"Onomastics" to help

For many, when choosing, the significance of girls' names has a decisive influence. By month and day, you can choose the option you like, choosing an Angel for your baby. But it’s one thing what a name sounds like, and quite another thing what its meaning is. In this case, onomastics will be an excellent help. This science deciphers all the secrets and reveals the original meaning of not only last names, but also patronymics and nicknames of people. Whether the daughter will be a scientist, a highly qualified specialist or a creative person - all this also directly depends on the chosen name. Attitudes towards loved ones, family, friends, nature and animals, character traits, and the direction of activity can be suggested by onomastics, having analyzed all the necessary data.

Not only the Orthodox Church has "Saints". Many other religions also rely on similar calendars. For Hindus, such a book is “Hindu Dharma”. month by month can be gleaned from the Koran or historical manuscripts relating to the life of the Prophet Muhammad.

At the birth of a baby, every parent wants to give him a name that will not only suit him, but also bring him good luck and happiness.

And happy parents of girls want the name to have a favorable influence on life, to be rare, significant, to suit the girl and emphasize her individuality. But choosing a name is accompanied by thought and debate. Sometimes it is difficult to choose what to name a child, because the abundance of names is amazing, and parents cannot decide for sure.

Therefore, many newborns are named after the Holy Day on which the child was born. People call this the day of the Angel. According to legend, at the birth of a baby, God gives him a guardian angel, whose calling is to protect the baby from troubles and misfortunes.

Note! A name plays an important role in a person's life. It can change fate. Therefore, the choice of name must be justified. It is better to name girls in honor of Saints according to the Orthodox calendar.

Advantages of this choice:

• Celebration of Angel's Day and birthday occur on the same day.
• A guardian angel with a similar dialect as the girl’s will protect the child’s fate, prevent her from taking the wrong path and guide her in time at the right moment.

Many people do not believe in these beliefs. But parents who did just this note that the baby who bears the name Mesyatseslov grows up happier and more cheerful.

In the Orthodox calendar, the name days of the Saints are celebrated every day. To understand what to name a girl at birth, you should look at the church calendar. Russian Orthodox calendars contain all the dates and adverbs of Saints. Based on the baby’s date of birth, a name is chosen similar to the date on the calendar.

Table: names according to Saints for girls by month in 2017.

How to choose the right name for your baby?

Previously, the name in Rus' was called “adverb”. Since ancient times, this concept has served as a talisman for children. At that time, many people firmly believed that if you call the baby by the dialect of Mesyatseslov, then the baby will be happy all his life.

Therefore, the name was chosen from the church calendar based on the date of birth of the baby.

Today, parents name their children as they wish. But there are those who want to live up to tradition and name the baby according to the Saints.

But there are days in the church calendar when only men's Saints are celebrated. In such a situation, parents can choose a name not only based on the baby’s date of birth. In Rus', a child was named on the eighth or fortieth day after his birth.

Therefore, if you don’t like the names of Angels on the days the baby is born or they are completely absent, you can choose adverbs based on other dates:

• According to ancient tradition, it was on the eighth day of the baby’s birth that a celebration was held, where the parents named their heir for life. This tradition appeared during the life of Jesus Christ. According to legend, Jesus Christ was named precisely on the eighth day after his birth.
• You can name your baby on the day of baptism, forty days after his birth. The rite of baptism is an ancient Orthodox tradition. During the sacrament, the baby is given a church name, which he will bear in heaven.

Important! But the church says that the baby should be named before the sacrament of baptism.

Whether to follow this rule is an individual choice of the parents themselves. At baptism, the baby is given a different name if none of the church names is liked.

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Most often, the day of remembrance of a saint is the day of his earthly death, i.e. transition to eternity, meeting with God, to join Whom the ascetic sought.

How to determine the name day

In the church calendar there are several days of commemoration of the same saint, and many saints also bear the same name. Therefore, it is necessary to find in the church calendar the day of remembrance of the saint of the same name as you, closest to your birthday. These will be your name days, and the saint whose memory is remembered on this day will be your heavenly patron. If he has other days of memory, then for you these dates will become “small name days”.

If we want to name a child strictly according to church tradition, then it will be the name of a saint, whose memory is celebrated on the 8th day after the child’s birth. Cm.

When determining a name day, the date of canonization of a saint does not matter, because it only records a fait accompli. In addition, as a rule, it is performed dozens of years after the saint’s transition to the heavenly abodes.

The name received by a person at baptism not only remains unchanged throughout his life (the only exception is the case of accepting monasticism), but also remains after death and passes with him into eternity. In prayers for the deceased, he also remembers their names given in baptism.

Name day and Angel Day

Sometimes name days are called Angel Day. This name day name recalls the fact that in the old days heavenly patrons were sometimes called the Angels of their earthly namesakes; It is incorrect, however, to confuse saints with angels. Name day is the day of remembrance of the saint after whom a person is named, and Angel Day is the day of baptism, when a person is assigned by God. Each baptized person has his own Guardian Angel, but we do not know his name.

Veneration and imitation of one's patron saint

The saint wrote about the prayerful help of the saints: “The saints, in the Holy Spirit, see our lives and our deeds. They know our sorrows and hear our fervent prayers... The saints do not forget us and pray for us... They also see the suffering of people on earth. The Lord gave them such great grace that they embrace the whole world with love. They see and know how exhausted we are from sorrows, how our souls have dried up, how despondency has bound them, and, without ceasing, they intercede for us before God.”

Veneration of a saint consists not only of praying to him, but also of imitating his feat and his faith. “Let your life be according to your name,” said the monk. After all, the saint whose name a person bears is not just his patron and prayer book, he is also a role model.

But how can we imitate our saint, how can we at least follow his example in some way? To do this you need:

• First, know about his life and exploits. Without this, we cannot truly love our saint.
• Secondly, we need to turn to them in prayer more often, know the troparion for him and always remember that we have a protector and helper in heaven.
• Thirdly, of course, we must always think about how we could follow the example of our saint in one case or another.

According to the nature of Christian deeds, saints are traditionally divided into faces (categories): prophets, apostles, saints, martyrs, confessors, saints, righteous, holy fools, saints, etc. (see).
The person named confessor or martyr, may well fearlessly profess his faith, act as a Christian always and in everything, without looking back at dangers or inconveniences, in everything he pleases, first of all, God, and not people, regardless of ridicule, threats and even oppression.
Those named after saints, can try to imitate them, exposing errors and vices, spreading the light of Orthodoxy, helping their neighbors find the path to salvation both by word and by their own example.
Reverend(i.e. monks) can be imitated in detachment, independence from worldly pleasures, maintaining purity of thoughts, feelings and actions.
Imitate holy fool- means, first of all, to humble yourself, cultivate selflessness, and not get carried away by acquiring earthly riches. The continuation should be the cultivation of will and patience, the ability to endure the difficulties of life, the fight against pride and vanity. You also need the habit of meekly enduring all insults, but at the same time not being shy about exposing obvious vices, telling the truth to everyone who needs admonition.

Names in honor of Angels

A person can also be named in honor of (Michael, Gabriel, etc.). People named after the archangels celebrate their name day on November 21 (November 8, Old Style), on the day of the Celebration of the Council of the Archangel Michael and other ethereal Heavenly Powers.

If the name is not in the calendar

If the name you were given is not in the calendar, then at baptism the name that is closest in sound is chosen. For example, Dina - Evdokia, Lilia - Leah, Angelica - Angelina, Zhanna - Ioanna, Milana - Militsa. According to tradition, Alice receives the name Alexandra in baptism, in honor of St. passion-bearer Alexandra Feodorovna Romanova, who before accepting Orthodoxy bore the name Alice. Some names in the church tradition have a different sound, for example, Svetlana is Photinia (from the Greek photos - light), and Victoria is Nike, both names mean “victory” in Latin and Greek.
Only the names given at baptism are written.

How to celebrate a name day

Orthodox Christians on their name days visit the temple and, having prepared in advance, visit the Holy Mysteries of Christ.
The days of “small name days” are not so solemn for the birthday person, but it is advisable to visit the temple on this day.
After communion, you need to keep yourself from all fuss so as not to lose your festive joy. In the evening, you can invite your loved ones for a meal. It should be remembered that if the name day falls on a fast day, then the holiday treat should be fast. During Lent, name days that occur on a weekday are moved to the next Saturday or Sunday.
Cm. Natalya Sukhinina

What to give for name day

In celebration of the memory of the patron saint, the best gift will be something that contributes to his spiritual growth: an icon, a vessel for prayer, beautiful candles for prayer, books, audio and video CDs with spiritual content.

Prayer to your saint

We should remember the saint in whose honor we receive a name not only on name day. There is a prayer to the saint in our daily morning and evening prayers, and we can also turn to him at any time and in any need. The simplest prayer to the saint:
Pray to God for me, holy servant of God (name), as I diligently resort to you, a quick helper and prayer book for my soul.
Your saint also needs to know.

In addition to the icons of the Savior - the Lord Jesus Christ, and the Mother of God, it is advisable to have your own saint. It may happen that you have some rare name, and the icon of your heavenly patron will be difficult to find. In this case, you can buy an icon of All Saints, which symbolically depicts all the saints glorified by the Orthodox Church.
Some .

Patristic sayings about name days

“We began to choose names not according to God. According to God, this is how it should be. Choose a name according to the calendar: either on what day the child will be born, or on what day he will be baptized, or within three days after baptism. Here the matter will be without any human considerations, but as God wills, for birthdays are in the hands of God.
saint

History and symbolism of the name day celebration

Like many other religious traditions, the celebration of name days was forgotten in Soviet times, moreover, in the 20-30s of the twentieth century it was subject to official persecution. True, it turned out to be difficult to eradicate age-old folk habits: they still congratulate the birthday boy on his birthday, and if the hero of the occasion is very young, they sing a song: “how on ... the name day we baked a loaf.” Meanwhile, name day is a special holiday, which could be called a day of spiritual birth, since it is associated primarily with the sacrament of Baptism and with the names that our heavenly patrons bear.

The tradition of celebrating name days has been known in Rus' since the 17th century. Usually on the eve of the holiday, the birthday boy’s family brewed beer and baked birthday rolls, pies and loaves. On the day of the holiday itself, the birthday boy and his family went to church for mass, ordered a prayer service for health, lit candles and venerated the icon with the face of his heavenly patron. During the day, birthday pies were distributed to friends and relatives, and often the filling and size of the pie had a special meaning, determined by the nature of the relationship between the birthday person and his loved ones. In the evening a festive dinner was held.

The royal name day (Name Day), which was considered a public holiday, was celebrated especially magnificently. On this day, boyars and courtiers came to the royal court to present gifts and take part in a festive feast, during which they sang for many years. Sometimes the king himself distributed the pies. Huge birthday rolls were distributed to the people. Later, other traditions appeared: military parades, fireworks, illuminations, shields with imperial monograms.

After the revolution, a serious and systematic ideological struggle began with name days: the rite of baptism was recognized as counter-revolutionary, and they tried to replace it with “Oktyabriny” and “Zvezdiny”. A ritual was developed in detail, in which the newborn was congratulated in strict sequence by an October child, a pioneer, a Komsomol member, a communist, “honorary parents”, sometimes the baby was symbolically enrolled in a trade union, etc. The fight against “remnants” reached anecdotal extremes: for example, in the 20s, censorship banned K. Chukovsky’s “Tsokotukha Fly” for “name day propaganda.”

Traditionally, name days are attributed to the day of remembrance of the named (namesake) saint, which immediately follows the birthday, although there is also a tradition of celebrating name days on the day of memory of the most famous named saint, for example, St. Nicholas the Wonderworker, Apostle Peter, St. Alexander Nevsky, etc. d. In the past, name days were considered a more important holiday than the day of “physical” birth, in addition, in many cases these holidays practically coincided, since traditionally a child was baptized on the eighth day after birth: the eighth day is a symbol of the Kingdom of Heaven. , to which the baptized person joins, while the number seven is an ancient symbolic number denoting the created earthly world. Baptismal names were chosen according to the church calendar (saints). According to the old custom, the choice of name was limited to the names of the saints whose memory was celebrated on the day of baptism. Later (especially in urban society) they moved away from this strict custom and began to choose names based on personal taste and other considerations - in honor of relatives, for example.
Name days turn us to one of our hypostases - to our personal name.

Perhaps to the ancient motto “Know thyself” we should add: “Know thy name.” Of course, a name primarily serves to distinguish people. In the past, a name could be a social sign, indicating a place in society - now, perhaps, only monastic (monastic) names stand out sharply from the Russian name book. But there is also a now almost forgotten, mystical meaning of the name.
In ancient times, people attached much more importance to a name than it does now. The name was considered a significant part of a person. The content of the name was correlated with the inner meaning of a person; it was, as it were, put inside him. The name controlled fate (“a good name is a good sign”). A well-chosen name became a source of strength and prosperity. Naming was considered a high act of creation, guessing the human essence, invoking grace.
In primitive society, a name was treated as a part of the body, like eyes, teeth, etc. The unity of the soul and the name seemed undeniable; moreover, it was sometimes believed that as many names as there were, there were as many souls, so in some tribes before to kill an enemy, it was supposed to find out his name in order to use him in his native tribe. Often names were hidden to prevent weapons from being given to the enemy. Harm and trouble were expected from mistreatment of the name. In some tribes it was strictly forbidden to pronounce (taboo) the name of the leader. In others, the custom was practiced of assigning new names to elders, which gave new strength. It was believed that a sick child was given strength by the name of his father, who was shouted in his ear or even called by his father’s (mother’s) name, believing that part of the parents’ vital energy would help defeat the disease. If the child cried especially a lot, it means the name was chosen incorrectly. Different nationalities have long maintained the tradition of naming “deceptive”, false names: the true name was not pronounced in the hope that death and evil spirits, perhaps, would not find the baby. There was another version of protective names - unattractive, ugly, frightening names (for example, Nekras, Nelyuba and even Dead), which averted adversity and misfortune.

In Ancient Egypt, the personal name was carefully guarded. The Egyptians had a “small” name, known to everyone, and a “big” one, which was considered true: it was kept secret and pronounced only during important rituals. The names of the pharaohs were especially respected - in the texts they were highlighted with a special cartouche. The Egyptians treated the names of the dead with great respect - mishandling them caused irreparable harm to the otherworldly existence. The name and its bearer were one whole: an Egyptian myth is typical, according to which the god Ra hid his name, but the goddess Isis managed to find him out by opening his chest - the name literally turned out to be inside the body!

For a long time, a change in name corresponded to a change in human essence. New names were given to adolescents upon initiation, that is, upon joining adult members of the community. In China, there are still children's "milk" names, which are abandoned with maturity. In ancient Greece, newly-minted priests, renouncing their old names, carved them on metal tablets and drowned them in the sea. Echoes of these ideas can be seen in the Christian tradition of giving monastic names, when someone who has taken monastic vows leaves the world and his worldly name.

Among many peoples, the names of pagan gods and spirits were taboo. It was especially dangerous to call evil spirits (“cursing”): in this way one could call out the “evil force.” The ancient Jews did not dare to name the Name of God: Yahweh (in the Old Testament - this is the “unspeakable Name”, a sacred tetragram, which can be translated as “I am who am.” According to the Bible, the act of naming often becomes God’s work: the Lord gave names to Abraham, Sarah , Isaac, Ishmael, Solomon, renamed Jacob Israel. The special religious gift of the Jewish people was manifested in a variety of names, which are called theophoric - they contain God’s “ineffable Name”: thus, through his personal name, a person connected with God.

Christianity, as the highest religious experience of mankind, takes personal names very seriously. A person’s name reflects the mystery of a unique, precious personality; it presupposes personal communication with God. During the sacrament of Baptism, the Christian Church, accepting a new soul into its bosom, binds it through a personal name with the name of God. As Fr. wrote. Sergius Bulgakov, “human naming and name-incarnation exists in the image and likeness of divine incarnation and naming... every person is an embodied word, a realized name, for the Lord himself is the incarnate Name and Word.”

The purpose of Christians is considered to be holiness. By naming a baby the name of a canonized saint, the Church tries to guide him on the true path: after all, this name has already been “realized” in life as a saint. The one who bears the holy name always keeps within himself the exalting image of his heavenly patron, “helper”, “prayer book”. On the other hand, the commonality of names unites Christians into one body of the Church, into one “chosen people.”

Reverence for the names of the Savior and the Mother of God has long been expressed in the fact that in the Orthodox tradition it is not customary to give names in memory of the Mother of God and Christ. Previously, the name of the Mother of God was even distinguished by a different emphasis - Mary, while other holy wives had the name Maria (Marya). The rare monastic (schema) name Jesus was assigned in memory not of Jesus Christ, but of the righteous Joshua.

The Russian Christian name book has evolved over centuries. The first extensive layer of Russian names arose in the pre-Christian era. The reasons for the emergence of a particular name could be very different: in addition to religious motives, the circumstances of birth, appearance, character, etc. played a role. Later, after the Baptism of Rus', these names, sometimes difficult to distinguish from nicknames, coexisted with Christian calendar names ( up to the 17th century). Even priests sometimes had nicknames. It happened that one person could have as many as three personal names: a “nickname” name and two baptismal names (one obvious, the other hidden, known only to the confessor). When the Christian name book completely replaced the pre-Christian “nickname” names, they did not leave us forever, moving into another class of names - in surnames (for example, Nekrasov, Zhdanov, Naydenov). Some pre-Christian names of canonized Russian saints subsequently became calendar ones (for example, Yaroslav, Vyacheslav, Vladimir).
With the adoption of Christianity, Rus' was enriched with the names of the entire human civilization: with the Byzantine calendar, Greek, Jewish, Roman and other names came to us. Sometimes images of more ancient religions and cultures were hidden under the Christian name. Over time, these names became Russified, so much so that the Hebrew names themselves became Russian - Ivan and Marya. At the same time, one should keep in mind the lofty thought of Fr. Pavel Florensky: “there are no names, neither Jewish, nor Greek, nor Latin, nor Russian - there are only universal names, the common heritage of mankind.”

The post-revolutionary history of Russian names developed dramatically: a massive campaign of “de-Christianization” of the name book was carried out. The revolutionary obscurantism of some sections of society, combined with tough government policies, was aimed at restructuring, and therefore at renaming the world. Along with the renaming of the country, its cities and streets, the people were renamed. “Red calendars” were compiled, new, “revolutionary” names were invented, many of which now sound simply like curiosities (for example, Malentro, i.e. Marx, Lenin, Trotsky; Dazdraperma, i.e. Long live May Day, etc. .). The process of revolutionary name-making, characteristic of ideological revolutions in general (it was known in France at the end of the 18th century, and in Republican Spain, and in the countries of the former “socialist camp”) did not last long in Soviet Russia, about a decade (20-30s ). Soon these names became part of history - here it is appropriate to recall another thought about. Pavel Florensky: “you can’t think of names,” in the sense that they are “the most stable fact of culture and the most important of its foundations.”

The change in the Russian name also went along the line of borrowing from other cultures - Western European (for example, Albert, Victoria, Zhanna) and common Slavic Christian names (for example, Stanislav, Bronislava), names from Greek and Roman mythology and history (for example, Aurelius, Aphrodite , Venus), etc. Over time, Russian society again returned to calendar names, but “de-Christianization” and a break in tradition led to an extraordinary impoverishment of the modern naming book, which now consists of only a few dozen names (the general property of “mass cultures” also played a role - the desire for averaging, standardization ).

Hieromonk Macarius (Markish):
Since ancient times, the custom has been established to give a newly accepted member of the Church the name of a saint. Thus, a special, new connection arises between earth and Heaven, between a person living in this world and one of those who have worthily walked their life’s path, whose holiness the Church has witnessed and glorified with its collective wisdom. Therefore, every Orthodox Christian must remember the saint in whose honor he is named, know the basic facts of his life, and, if possible, remember at least some elements of the service in his honor.
But the same name, especially the common ones (Peter, Nicholas, Mary, Helen), was borne by many saints of different times and peoples; therefore, we have to find out in honor of which saint who bore this name the baby will be named. This can be done using a detailed church calendar, which contains an alphabetical list of saints revered by our Church with the dates of celebration of their memory. The choice is made taking into account the date of birth or baptism of the child, the circumstances of the saints’ life feats, family traditions, and your personal sympathies.
In addition, many famous saints have several days of remembrance throughout the year: this could be the day of death, the day of the discovery or transfer of relics, the day of glorification - canonization. You have to choose which of these days will become the holiday (name day, name day) of your child. It is often called Angel Day. In fact, we ask the Lord to give the newly baptized his Guardian Angel; but this Angel must under no circumstances be confused with the saint after whom the child is named.
Sometimes some difficulties arise when naming a name. There are many Orthodox saints known in history, but not included in our calendars. Among them are the saints of Western Europe, who lived and were glorified even before the fall of Rome from Orthodoxy (until 1054, the Roman Church was not severed from Orthodoxy, and we also recognize the saints revered in it by that time as saints), whose names were acquired from us popularity in recent decades (Victoria, Edward, etc.), but are sometimes listed as “non-Orthodox”. There are also the opposite situations, when the usual Slavic name does not belong to any of the Orthodox saints (for example, Stanislav). Finally, there are also frequent formal misunderstandings related to the spelling of the name (Elena - Alena, Ksenia - Oksana, John - Ivan) or its sound in different languages ​​(in Slavic - Svetlana and Zlata, in Greek - Photinia and Chrysa).
If necessary, the child can be given a baptismal name different from the one recorded on the birth certificate, choosing it, for example, according to consonance (Stanislav - Stakhy, Carolina - Kaleria, Elina - Elena). There is nothing flawed in this: among the Serbs, for example, almost everyone has one name in everyday life and another in baptism. Let us note that in the Russian Church, unlike some other Orthodox Churches, the beloved name Maria is never given in honor of the Most Holy Theotokos, but only in honor of other saints who bore this name. You should also know that since 2000, our Church has canonized many of our countrymen and fellow citizens - new martyrs and confessors of the 20th century - and calls on believers to name their children in their honor and memory.