When I moved to Sweden, I learned that every week of the year is referred to by number. That was strange enough, but then I was informed that every day on the calendar also has names attached to it.
After digging into it a bit more, I found out that name days in Sweden are originally based on saint’s days, which you might be familiar with if you’re Catholic.
Hundreds of years ago, the Catholic Church assigned each day of the year to one or more saints, and this spread across much of Europe, including Sweden. Many people were also named after those saints, so a saint’s day doubled as a celebration for everyone who shared the name.
In the 1500s, Sweden turned Protestant and lost interest in the whole saint business, but the names stayed on the calendar, because, why not?
Over the years, the list has been revised:
- 1901: More Swedish and Nordic names added (some replacing old saints’ names)
- 1934: A few more popular names of the time
- 1986 and 1993: More immigrant and popular names
- 2001: Current calendar set to be updated every 15 years
You might be asking, why do I care? And the answer is…. CAKE.
My husband told me that while most Swedes simply wish people a happy name day (or don’t acknowledge it at all), there are a few that use it as an excuse to eat cake. I immediately decided this is the type of Swedes we should be.
So imagine my disappointment when I found out the name “Heather” is not one of the names in the calendar. I didn’t let that stop me, though, I simply picked the closest female name starting with an “H” – Hedvig.
A Little Name Day Trivia
Name days are still printed in Swedish calendars and shown in many apps (along with some history about the names and happenings on that day). A committee including representatives from the Swedish Academy is in charge of what names can be added or removed from the calendar.
There are some days on the calendar that have no names, including New Year’s Day and Christmas Day. Other days have very appropriate names assigned to them, like “Eva” on Christmas Eve, or “Valentin” on February 14th.
January 6, Epiphany, is celebrated in many countries for the day the three wise men brought gifts to the baby Jesus. So this is one of the few days that has three names – “Kaspar, Melker” and “Baltsar.”
Call me Hedvig
Out of curiosity, I checked the Swedish Tax Agency’s name lookup to find out how many people share a few of these names. Baltsar, the rarest of the three wise men, has just 81. The name Heather has 193, which means there are more Heathers than Baltsars, yet Baltsar still gets a day on the calendar.
Hedvig, on the other hand, belongs to 7,140 people. I suppose I don’t have much of an argument yet for swapping it with my own name.
So every October 15, please refer to me as Hedvig. I’m not missing out on my cake.
Want to hear more thoughts and background on names in Sweden? Check out episode #151 The Name Game