Name days in the Czech Republic

In the Czech Republic, each day of the year, except national holidays, corresponds to a personal name. People celebrate their name day ("svátek"—or more formally "jmeniny", but that term isn't usually used) on the date corresponding to their own given name.^[1]

In the past, parents were not allowed to choose just any name for a child. This has changed, although it is still common to choose the name from the name day "calendar", and any highly unusual name has to be approved by a special office. The original list was the Roman Catholic calendar of saints, but many changes were made to reflect the present-day usage of names.

The name day is commonly of less importance than birthdays to Czech people. The celebration can be held together with friends or co-workers of the same name and in this way, it can grow in size and "importance".