Encyclopedia of Early Modern History Online

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Name day
(846 words)

1. Concept

Name days and birthdays are “anniversaries shared collectively but celebrated individually” and located in the calendar [7. 79]. They became popular celebrations in the early modern period (Festival), with name days becoming distinctly Catholic in tone and birthdays distinctly Protestant. The celebration of the name day is based on a cyclical concept of time. The festivity is not focused on the individual, but on the annual return of the memory of the saint whose name the day marks. In …

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Koller, Edith, “Name day”, in: Encyclopedia of Early Modern History Online, Editors of the English edition: Graeme Dunphy, Andrew Gow. Original German Edition: Enzyklopädie der Neuzeit. Im Auftrag des Kulturwissenschaftlichen Instituts (Essen) und in Verbindung mit den Fachherausgebern herausgegeben von Friedrich Jaeger. Copyright © J.B. Metzlersche Verlagsbuchhandlung und Carl Ernst Poeschel Verlag GmbH 2005–2012. Consulted online on 02 June 2023 <http://dx.doi.org/10.1163/2352-0272_emho_COM_024528>
First published online: 2015
First print edition: 20200128



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