Birthdays/Namedays In Poland? Which do Poles celebrate?

Can someone clear something up for me with this?

A while ago I was told that Polish do not have birthdays but do celebrate 'name-days', but Im not sure if I was being wound up or not..........

Does this sound familiar to anyone? Im lost.............

If this is indeed true can you elaborate a little?

Celebrate both.

Anymore to tell?

I know what a birthday is :) but whats a nameday?

Maybe when a name wasnt decieded on birth but later was?

Sorry if this seems ignorant..........

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Namesdays#Poland

It's usually the saint's day for the saint you were named after, or a day nominated for your particular name. To make it easier (and to spread the parties throughout the year), many saints have more than one day in the year, so for example, if your name is Paul (Pawel) you can chose a day to celebrate from: 10, 15, 19 or 25 Jan, 1, 5, 6 or 8 Feb, 2 or 7 March, 16 or 28 April, 15 May, 1, 7, 26, 28 or 29 June, 20, 25 or 30 July, 20 August, 3 or 19 October or 8, 16 or 19 November. I think that your parents chose which day is 'your' namesday (the nearest one to your birthday??) but I don't know if you can change it later on yourself. Also, my Mum gets really upset if we forget her namesday (29 July) but doesn't care if we forget her birthday, whereas for my brother and I it's the other way round.

Namedays are great invention because you don't have to disclose your age ! he he he

i dont think its fair... you guys get presents twice a year. I want to create my own name day.

Thread attached on merging:
Polish birthdays and namedays

I think Polish people celebrate their nameday more than their birthday..........

But my question is.............................................

If your birthday is the 17th of August and your name is Małgorzata.....................

How do you work out when your nameday is? Is it specific?

So therefore can someone tell me when this person's nameday is as i don't want to ask them and then spoil the surprise of me sending them/giving them somthing.

And is it common to give BIRTHDAY cards on this day? Or do yous have nameday cards too?

And is it common to give presents on namedays?

cheers big ears :))

What is this Nameday?

Now my questions will not get answered...........

Thanks mod

Half your problem is answered in one of the above posts

Imeniny for Małgorzata are: 18 stycznia, 22 lutego, 25 lutego, 10 kwietnia, 13 kwietnia, 10 czerwca, 13 lipca, 20 lipca, 27 sierpnia, 17 października, 2 listopada

so closest to her Bday will be 27th August.

hmmmmmmmmmmm........i'm even more lost now

So if your birthday is Aug the 17th you can celebrate on the nameday the 27th of Aug as suggestes in the above post. I thought the nameday came first..............

And also...........

If your birthday is Aug 17th you can have a nameday in Jan????????????

I think it really depends on person, especially among the young generations :)

I celebrate my birthday in August and namesdays in May :)

i don't celebrate my name day, never have. it's my name day on Andrzejki and some people will say happy name day to me but we never celebrated name day as something as important as birthday. my nan used to but my parents - never.

Mine is on Friday the 13th.....

My Polish friend is this Friday.krysia so do you have bad luck then LOL.

I was born in June and should have celebrated my name day in July but the one on 13th March is more popular so I've always celebrated it then (mind you for quite a long time I didn't even know that there was another day nominated for my name)...

.... and some of my friends have already told me recently that I should expect them on Saturday not Friday...:)
... they are giving me the chance to prepare sth nice as I work till 6.30 pm on Friday...:)

Chi my birthday is june 14th.

and mine is in June 7th:)

Mines June 4th =]

lots of geminis here.