Today, in our country, the tradition of choosing the name of a child according to the holy calendar is becoming very popular. Calling a child according to the calendar is an ancient Orthodox tradition.
Saints (months) is a calendar with records of days of remembrance of saints and church holidays. As a rule, parents who choose a name for the child according to the holy calendar believe that the saint in whose honor the child was named will be his heavenly patron, guardian angel and intercessor, and will protect him from all sorts of troubles throughout his life. A saint to whom a child, and later an adult, could turn for prayer help. Others, being guided by the clergy, want to choose rare, almost forgotten, Russian names for their children, for example, Barbara, Ulyana, Timothy, Zakhar, Makar.
When choosing a name according to the calendar, you need to be guided by the child's birthday. Each of the days of the year is dedicated to the celebration of the memory of a saint. But it happens that on the day the baby is born, there is no suitable name, for example, you have a girl, and on this day only the saints of the male sex are celebrated. Then you can choose a name from those saints whose memory is glorified on the 8th day from the birth of the child. In ancient times, it was in this way that they gave names to children, since the number 8 means eternity (infinity). If a suitable name was not found up to eight days from the day of birth, then you can look at the names on the fortieth day, because it is on this day that the child must visit the temple for the sacrament of baptism. The name given to a child or adult at baptism does not change throughout life, except in rare circumstances, for example, tonsure as a monk.
If the child was named after a non-Orthodox name, then at his baptism, as a rule, they choose a consonant Orthodox name. Name day is the day of the glorification of the saint in whose honor the child was named, also this day is otherwise called, the day of the Angel or the day of the namesake. It often happens that the days of remembrance of your saint are celebrated several times during the year, or more than once saints are met in the calendar (church calendar) with the same name. In this case, close to the day of your birthday is considered to be your name day, and the remaining days of the memory of your saint are called small name days.
To name a child according to the calendar, you need to refer to the Orthodox calendar of names. Also, this calendar will help you find your name day, for those who do not know it.
