I think the influence of the Roman Catholic Church was so great at one time in Hungary that they demanded the use of Saints names. At one time, and perhaps even now, you could not have a child baptized without one of his/her names being the name of a saint. Elizabeth V. Cardinal evc1369@comcast.net

At 18:09 2006.06.12.ÿ Monday, Elizabeth V Cardinal wrote: >I think the influence of the Roman Catholic Church was so great at one time >in Hungary that they demanded the use of Saints names. As my name, Géza, is not a saint's name, I hardly believe this supposition (not because it's mine but because it's highly improbable that it has ever been banned by the church). >At one time, and perhaps even now, you could not have a child baptized >without one of his/her names being the name of a saint. This one is correct, my parents needed to choose a saint's name (in my case, János) alongside Géza. This does not appear, however, elsewhere than in church records. I think this is still the rule (but do not forget that many people don't have church baptisms at all today). As to other messages in this thread, thank you very much for the info that my name is the 7th most common. I never knew this :-) The name giving customs that Marika describes might have been valid well before 16th century. According to one source, names of non-Christian origin gradually gave place to Christian names from 11th until 14th century; from that time on, these latter were predominant. As regards the name Árpád, the explanation given by Marika is the one generally accepted, but of course the name goes well back to the times of the ancient Hungarians and so explains the name carried by the chief conqueror. Best wishes Geza -- No virus found in this outgoing message. Checked by AVG Anti-Virus. Version: 7.1.394 / Virus Database: 268.8.3/361 - Release Date: 2006.06.11.

I did not say, nor did I mean to imply, that the alleged “approved“ list contained only the names of saints. Geza and Árpád are two obvious examples that are not. However, those names are certainly covered by the name days, as well as many other “non-saint“ names (http://www.hungarotips.com/customs/ndays.html). (My good friend Lajos Reich was kind enough to let me know that even Zsanett has a name day--May 30.) There are several references on the Internet to this so-called official list of names, but I have not seen any sources given. It may be a myth that it was a legal requirement. Many European countries share the custom of celebrating name days. I would guess that it began as a religious observance, but as the custom became secularized, non-saint names were added to the calendar so people would not be left out. Geza, I stand corrected about my too-quick comment about Árpád. It is a good reminder that even ancient names had origins and meanings. Janet