Today, every Mark, Marc and even Marco you know shares a name day with the Greek tradition. It is the kind of celebration that slips easily into daily Canadian life: a quick text to a co-worker named Mark, a cheerful note to your cousin’s classmate Marc, or a warm wish for the across-the-street neighbour who has never heard of a name day but likes the idea right away.
Mark comes from the Greek Μάρκος, itself taken from the Latin Marcus, one of the most enduring personal names of the Roman world. It is generally connected to Mars, the Roman god of war, which gave the name an early sense of strength and martial character before it travelled into Christian use and then into English, French, Italian and many other languages. That is why Mark feels both familiar and ancient at once: a classical Latin name carried through Greek usage into the modern Western world.
In Eastern Orthodox Christianity, a person’s name day is the feast day of the saint after whom they were named at baptism.
For Greek-Canadian families, that can mean Papou Markos gets a phone call in the morning while a university friend named Mark hears “happy name day” for the first time over coffee. It can also mean the local barber named Marc gets a smile and a short explanation, and suddenly a small Greek custom becomes part of someone else’s day too.
If you know a Mark, Marc or Marco, today is an easy chance to share something lovely from Greek culture without making it complicated. Chronia Polla! to everyone celebrating today, in Greek and non-Greek circles alike, and especially to the Marks in your contacts who may not even know this day belongs to them too.
