Tuesday, December 27, 2011

Happy Belated Name Day, Vlasta, Adam & Eva, and Štěpán! Všechno nejlepší k svátku!

On December 23rd we honoroed Vlasta.  Happy belated name day, Vlasta!
The name Vlasta is of Slavonic origin and means "country, homeland".

On December 24th we honored Adam & Eva.  Happy belated name day, Adam & Eva!

The name Adam is of Hebrew origin and means "earth".  In Hebrew, it is a generic term for "man".  In the Genesis account, he was the first man created from the red earth of Eden.  The name was borne by a seventh-century Irish abbot of Fermo, Italy.  The name has been steadily used from the middle ages until the 1700s, and again beginning in the 1970s.  It's an appropriate name for the first boy in a family that has produced many girls.

The name Eva is also my name...happy belated name day to me!
The name Eva is also of Hebrew origin and means "life, living one".  Eva was originally the equivalent of Eve in many non-English speaking countries; it was later adopted by English speakers in the mid-19th century. 


On December 26th we honored Štěpán.  Happy belated name day, Štěpán!
The name Štěpán is the Russian and Armenian form of Stephen, which is of Greek origin and means "crown".
 The name was popularized in England by the Normans.  Stephen was the name of kings of England, Serbia, and Poland, as well as ten popes.  It was also borne by the first Christian king of Hungary (10th century), who is regarded as the patron saint of that country.