Scree

Men build sheds, women build churches. This is the church of Metamorphosis tou Sotiros (the Transfiguration of the Saviour) and its 'name day' is 5/6th August.

When Spouseman was having weeks of treatment in Larisa he rented a bedsit (garsoniera) from a woman called Stella. Today Stella sent Spouseman a text wishing him a Happy Name Day. We were touched, nobody has ever wished either of us a happy name day before.

Greek names fall into two basic categories; Christian and pre-Christian. Pre-Christian includes gems such as Athena, Socrates and Themistocles, Christian includes all the usual saintly characters, virtues, plus some strange ones like Stavros, which is actually the Roman implement of torture on which Jesus died (yum!). It's very rare to find anything outside of these two groups though I have once met a Violetta.

Bringing non-Greek names into Greece can have its hilarious moments;
'Ella' is a common way to answer the phone. On the phone it means 'Tell me' but face to face it means 'Come here!'
'Jackie' means fireplace, yes, really. Jackie Bouvier Kennedy Onassis moved to Greece and became a hearth.

There are other amusing female names but I have forgotten what they are. I was however rather disappointed to find that although my name is ancient; Jewish, Christian and Muslim as well, in Greece it means 'a mass of small loose stones that form or cover a slope on a mountain'
And I always thought it meant Princess! :-(

Looks like I really am on the slippery slope.