ImieninyClick here for Note to Instructors
by E. Wampuszyc

If you have ever seen a Polish calendar, you may have noticed that each day of the year has a name on it. Names appear on almost every Polish calendar and indicate what is called imieniny or “name day”, the feast day of the saint for whom you are named. (In Catholicism as well as in Russian Orthodoxy, each day of the year is devoted to one or more saints.) A predominantly catholic country, Poles celebrate their imieniny, rather than their birthdays (urodziny). The word imieniny comes from the noun imię, which means “name”.

The names listed on the calendar are in a special grammatical form called the “Genitive case”. This form takes a regular name like “Robert” or “Marta” and makes it mean “of Robert” (Roberta ) or “of Marta” (Marty ). So, “Bronisławy” means “of Bronisława”, “Łukasza” means “of Łukasz”, etc... When used on a calendar, this form is understood to mean “(the day) of Marta” or “(the day) of Robert”. By looking at the last letter of the name on the calendar, you can recognize which names are masculine (those ending in –a or –ego) and which names are feminine (those ending in –y or –i).

In Poland, name days are a special time for family and friends to gather—sometimes for dinner or just dessert. There is usually a small intimate gathering of family and friends. Sometimes friends and family simply stop by to wish the solenizant/solenizantka (the person celebrating his/her name day ) Wszystkiego najlepszego! (“All the best!”) and Sto lat! (A hundred years!). If gifts are given, they are usually small and symbolic. Most often, guests bring flowers (usually in odd numbers) or chocolates, whether it be for a man or a woman.