# What Is a Polish Name Day? Imieniny and How to Celebrate

Source: https://www.polishgenealogist.co.uk/polish-britain/polish-name-day-imieniny/
Last updated: 2026-11-07
Summary: Find out what a Polish name day is, how the imieniny calendar works, why one name can have several dates and how to wish someone well in Polish.
Publisher: The Polish Genealogist (professional Polish genealogy research, polishgenealogist.co.uk)

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A Polish name day, or imieniny, is a celebration associated with a person’s given name. A birthday falls on the date they were born. A name day comes from a calendar that assigns names to days of the year. A Polish relative might mark it with flowers, a card, coffee and cake or simply a phone call. The same day can be entered in the diary for several relatives if they share a given name. In families that still exchange cards, the occasion is often visible in the words printed on the front.

Many traditional dates are linked to feast days. One name can appear several times, so a calendar will give you possible dates and the family can tell you which one they keep. If you have been invited to imieniny, you can use the date the host gave you and wish them Wszystkiego najlepszego z okazji imienin, or all the best on your name day.

> **Have a Polish name in a letter or family album?** We trace the people behind family names in Polish records and explain the evidence in English. [Explore Polish family research](https://www.polishgenealogist.co.uk/services/family-history-research/)

### How the Polish name day calendar works

Look at a Polish calendar and you may see several first names printed next to a date. That means several people with different names can celebrate on the same day. Conversely, looking up a name in an alphabetical list can bring back several dates. Calendars vary in the names and observances they include.

*Kalendarz stary, a 1640 publication discussing calendars and feast days. Kasjan Sakowicz / Polona. · [Source](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Kalendarz_stary_1640_%2867762645%29.jpg) · [Public domain](https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/)*

The custom draws on the association between names and saints’ feast days, but a modern family celebration can simply be a social occasion. People with the same given name may keep different dates. One family may have a longstanding custom of celebrating an Anna on 26 July. Another Anna may have a different date or may prefer to celebrate her birthday.

When you are looking up a date, start with the full Polish given name. A familiar form such as Ania may be filed under Anna. If all you have is the English version of a name, check whether the person actually uses the apparent Polish equivalent. A familiar nickname and a name used on a formal record can be connected, but the exact spelling still matters.

### Why can one Polish name have more than one date?

Different saints can share a name, and different calendars can show different observances. That can produce several entries for the same given name. A family may keep the date already used by relatives or choose one associated with a particular patron. A calendar result on its own tells you which dates are possible.

A calendar can also hold a record of relationships. Someone may have written a second given name or a place in the margin to distinguish two people who shared a name. Compare the handwriting with other entries on the same page before assigning it to a particular relative. If there are two calendars from different homes, keep the entries separate. The same printed list can have quite different meanings once two households have added their own notes.

If you are about to send a message, the most reliable date is the one the person or their family uses. A simple way to ask is Kiedy obchodzisz imieniny, meaning when do you celebrate your name day. That question also leaves room for someone to say they do not keep the custom.

There is a useful difference between reading a date and explaining it. If you find a calendar with one day underlined, it shows what somebody marked. A note giving a name or a card addressed to that person can help explain why. If the calendar has no year on the surviving page, keep its date separate from the year suggested by other papers.

### How to say happy name day in Polish

Wszystkiego najlepszego z okazji imienin is an everyday way to say all the best on your name day. In a short message, Wszystkiego najlepszego is enough when the occasion is already clear. A handwritten card might also use Najserdeczniejsze życzenia imieninowe, meaning warmest name-day wishes.

For a relative or friend, add a wish you could say in conversation. Dużo zdrowia i radości means lots of health and joy. A message from children might begin Kochana Babciu, or dear Grandma. A family in Britain may write the greeting in Polish and the rest in English, just as relatives might switch languages in conversation.

If you are reading old cards, look for imieniny or imieninowe in the printed greeting. Urodziny or urodzinowe points to a birthday instead. Some cards contain only a general wish, and the event may become clear from a dated inscription, an envelope or a note elsewhere in the album.

### What happens at an imieniny celebration?

The event can be as small as a call or as sociable as an evening with friends. Flowers and cake are familiar choices. If someone has invited you to their home, take your cue from the invitation and the household. You can send a greeting even if there is no gathering.

*Delegations in Sulejówek for Józef Piłsudski’s name day, 1925. Photographer unidentified / Genjusz niepodległości. · [Source](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Imieniny_Pi%C5%82sudskiego_1925.jpg) · [Public domain](https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/)*

Historical examples range from ordinary cards to elaborate public celebrations. Józef Piłsudski’s name day, for example, was publicly marked in interwar Poland. That tells us about the attention paid to a public figure. The modest card, shop-bought flowers or family photograph in a private collection belongs to the other end of the scale.

*The 10th Uhlan Regiment heading to Belweder on 19 March 1928. Photographer unidentified / Polish National Digital Archives. · [Source](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Imieniny_J%C3%B3zefa_Pi%C5%82sudskiego_1928_-_10_pu%C5%82_w_drodze_do_Belwederu_NAC_1-A-138-2.jpg) · [Public domain](https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/)*

In Britain you may hear of a family who kept a parent’s imieniny but marked only birthdays for the children. Ask who usually arranged the gathering and how people remembered the date. A calendar in the kitchen, a family phone call and a parish bulletin could all have kept the day visible in different households.

*A newspaper marks Józef Piłsudski’s name day, 20 March 1931. Bolesław Wieniawa-Długoszowski / Józef Piłsudski Institute of America. · [Source](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Boles%C5%82aw_Wieniawa-D%C5%82ugoszewski_-_W_dniu_imienin_pierwszego_Marsza%C5%82ka_Polski_-_701-001-135-003.pdf) · [Public domain](https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/)*

### How to read an old Polish name-day card

Begin with the words printed on the front, then turn the card over. A publisher could print thousands of identical greetings, while the handwriting names the person who received this particular copy. Read the address, date and signature as separate pieces of information. A signed Dla kochanej Zosi means for dear Zosia. It gives you the form of the name the writer used.

Imagine a card addressed to Zosia in Birmingham and signed by someone in Poland using a first name alone. A postal address may be more useful at first than the signature. A second letter with a matching address and a surname can help you investigate the connection. If Zosia later appears as Zofia or Sophie elsewhere, use age, place and relatives to check that the records refer to the same person.

Photograph the whole card, including the edges and any postal marks. If the card includes two people’s signatures, transcribe both. Keep the exact letters, including Polish marks, then make a separate working list of spelling variants. Our articles on [Polish surnames](https://www.polishgenealogist.co.uk/articles/poland/polish-surnames-explained/) and [names adapted in British records](https://www.polishgenealogist.co.uk/polish-britain/anglicised-polish-surnames/) cover what can happen to names when they cross languages.

### What a name day tells you about your family

The celebration can tell you what a person was called among relatives and who remembered to write. A calendar date is useful for placing a greeting or photograph in the year. For a birth date or a formal given name, look for evidence that records the event itself, such as a [Polish birth or baptism entry](https://www.polishgenealogist.co.uk/vital-records/finding-a-birth-entry-in-poland/). A card and a register can answer different questions about the same person.

Write down the story while someone is still able to tell it. Ask which name the person used at home, when the family celebrated and which relatives sent cards. Keep those answers beside the pictures of the original material. If you later learn that two family members shared the same name, you will have more details to distinguish them.

Another clue can come from a group photograph. If the envelope and the print are kept together, check for a note giving the host’s name. A list of guests may identify family friends whose names later turn up as witnesses or godparents. A repeated association is a useful lead for checking records when a first name appears by itself.

Our family history research can follow an agreed line when you have names, a likely locality and a period to investigate. We explain what the Polish records establish in English and give references and copies where available. A bundle of letters can help decide which person and place to begin with.

### Official sources

- [Adam Mickiewicz Institute](https://culture.pl/en/article/imieniny-0)

- [St Mary’s Polish Church](https://www.stmaryspolishchurch.ca/nameday.html)

- [Maria Curie-Skłodowska University](https://phavi.umcs.pl/at/attachments/2023/0906/132034-jezyk-polski-bez-granic-poziom-a1-czesc-2.pdf)

### Related guides

- [Polish surnames and their spelling](https://www.polishgenealogist.co.uk/articles/poland/polish-surnames-explained/)

- [Polish names in British records](https://www.polishgenealogist.co.uk/polish-britain/anglicised-polish-surnames/)

- [Finding a Polish birth entry](https://www.polishgenealogist.co.uk/vital-records/finding-a-birth-entry-in-poland/)

> **Research service:** Trace your family in Polish records · [Explore family history research](https://www.polishgenealogist.co.uk/services/family-history-research/)

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