I live in a country where people tend to name their children after sport stars or famous musicians. And if they don’t, they choose a name that is popular at that very moment; for this reason most of my namesakes are in their late twenties or early thirties now. No wonder I like the Greek situation where the popularity of names doesn’t change over the years and names reflect an age-old tradition rather than the favourite actor of the child’s parents. Obviously I also like the Greek habit of celebrating namedays, which connects people with their namesakes (and they are a lot harder to forget than birthdays*).

Today is my nameday. Yay for me and all the Martins, Mortens and Martines in this world. Have a cake and a beer on me, will you? Cheers!

* I’ve found several sources on the web that claim Greeks don’t celebrate their birthdays. Obviously, in a country where people find the start of a new month a reason to wish for a ‘good month’ (no kidding!), this is not true.