Today’s name day reaches a little further than the Greek family circle. If you know a Cyriacus, a Cyril, a Cyrille, a Cirilo or even a Kirill or Kyrylo, you are closer to this Greek tradition than you might think. In Greek, the name is Kyriakos, and September 29 is a good excuse to send a quick message and share a custom that still feels fresh when it lands in a Canadian inbox.
Kyriakos comes from the Greek adjective kyriakos, meaning “of the lord” or “belonging to the lord,” built on kyrios, “lord” or “master.” The word had a long life beyond personal names: it also shaped terms in late Greek and Christian Latin, and it echoes in Kyriake, the Greek word for Sunday, the Lord’s Day. Through late antique and medieval usage, related forms spread widely across Europe, producing names such as Cyriacus, Cyril, Cirilo and Kirill.
In Eastern Orthodox Christianity, a person’s name day is the feast day of the saint after whom they were named at baptism.
There is a certain steadiness in this name, and you can feel it in the papou who never misses his morning walk, in the colleague named Cyril who keeps the whole office calm when deadlines tighten, or in the across-the-street neighbour everyone trusts with a spare key. Kyriakos is one of those names that sounds at home in Greek and just as at home in the wider city, carrying heritage without needing translation.
So if there is a Kyriakos in the family, a Kiri in your contacts, or a friend named Cyril who has never heard of name days, today is the day to reach out. Chronia Polla! to everyone celebrating, Greek and non-Greek alike, and especially to the friend who may be learning for the first time that today is their day too.
