Orthodox Patron Saint: How to Find Yours (by Name, Day or Choice)

Your Orthodox patron saint is the saint whose name you received at baptism. If you were baptized Orthodox, you already have one: ask your parents, your godparents or the priest which saint you were named for. If you are still choosing, the Church gives you three ways. You can take a saint from the day of your birth or baptism, a saint you love, or a name you like. To start with your first name, use our name finder and find a patron saint by first name.

What an Orthodox patron saint is

In the Orthodox Church your name is a saint’s name. The Service Book has a short rite for it, “At the Naming of a Child, when he receiveth his Name, on the Eighth Day after his Birth”. The priest signs the baby with the cross and prays “that the cross of thine Only-begotten Son may be graven in his heart” (Hapgood, 1906). From then on that saint is your heavenly patron, and the saint’s feast is your name day.

The Church also gives you a guardian. At baptism the priest prays over the catechumen: “Yoke unto his life a radiant Angel, who shall deliver him from every snare of the adversary” (Hapgood). So every Orthodox Christian has two companions: the saint whose name you bear and your Guardian Angel.

Three ways to find your patron saint

There is no single rule. The Orthodox Church in America says plainly that there is no “universal, standard” way to choose a name. Families name a child for the saint of the birth date, out of devotion to a saint, or simply by preference (OCA Q&A).

1. By name

This is the most common answer to “what is my patron saint?” If your name is Nicholas, your patron is a St Nicholas. Most often that is St Nicholas the Wonderworker, whom the OCA calls “a speedy helper and suppliant for all hastening to him”. Our patron saint finder works like a list of patron saints of names. It starts from the exact name, then tries its variants and similar names, then the meaning. If none of those fit, it shows the saints of your birthday or baptism day, and finally the Guardian Angel. You will always get an answer.

2. By the day of your birth or baptism

In the Russian tradition, families open the church calendar, the svyattsy, and choose among the saints of the day. Azbyka.ru describes the common practice: a child was most often named for the saint whose memory fell on the birthday. Others chose from the saints of the eighth day, when the name is given, or of the baptism day. For a girl, the family could look a few days ahead if no woman saint fell on the day. Azbyka is careful to add that this was never a binding rule in Russia. Today you can do the same with any Orthodox saint of the day calendar. The OCA’s daily Lives of the Saints lists everyone the Church remembers on a given date, with each saint’s life and troparion.

3. By choice

Many people choose a saint they love. The OCA suggests that adult converts take “the name of a saint whose life one may especially wish to emulate”. You do not choose alone. The OCA advises talking it over with your parish priest, who will baptize or chrismate you with that name. Converts usually keep their everyday name. In church, at Confession and at Communion, they use the saint’s name. If you are preparing to enter the Church, our chrismation gift guide may help your sponsors too.

What if my name has no saint?

Some names are not in the church calendar at all. At baptism the priest then gives a saint’s name, usually the closest in sound. Azbyka.ru gives a well-known example: Svetlana is baptized Photini (Photinia). A name in a foreign form is often turned into its church form: Angela becomes Angelina.

Many Western names are saints’ names already. Patrick is one: the Orthodox Church remembers St Patrick, Enlightener of Ireland, on 17 March, or 30 March on the Old Calendar. Our saints’ pages also include St Olaf of Norway and St Edward the Martyr. If you are not sure which name you were baptized with, ask the parish where you were baptized. And your Guardian Angel watches over you whatever your name.

Several saints with one name: which one is yours?

There are many saints called John, George or Mary. Your saint is the one your parents or priest had in mind at your baptism. If no one remembers, Russian custom gives a simple answer. Look in the calendar for a saint of your name whose feast falls first after your birthday. Azbyka calls the other days of that name “lesser name days”. If you love one St John above the others, talk to your priest. He can tell you which one to keep.

Your saint name day, on both calendars

Your name day is the feast of your patron. Azbyka notes that the Russian folk phrase “Angel’s Day” is loose: a saint is not an angel. Keep the date on the calendar of your parish. Our guide to the Old and New Calendar explains why there are two dates.

• St Nicholas: 6 December, or 19 December on the Old Calendar.
• St George: 23 April, or 6 May on the Old Calendar. The OCA records his martyrdom on 23 April 303.
• St Patrick: 17 March, or 30 March on the Old Calendar.
• The Guardian Angel, with the Archangel Michael and all the Bodiless Powers: 8 November, or 21 November on the Old Calendar.

How do Orthodox families keep the day? On a name day, the faithful go to church, prepare, and receive Confession and Communion, then gather family at the table (azbyka.ru). Our guide to name days covers the customs, and the name day gift guide covers the presents.

Once you know your saint

• Read the life. The saints’ pages on our site and the OCA lives tell you who your saint was and what they suffered or built.
• Learn the troparion. It is the saint’s short hymn. Sing or read it on the name day and before the saint’s icon.
• Keep an icon. Azbyka.ru advises keeping, in the home icon corner, icons of the saints whose names the family bear. Our guide to the icon corner shows where it goes.
• Keep the name day. Go to church on the feast. You can also ask our priest to read your name at the Divine Liturgy through our prayer services.

Icons of your patron saint

Each gift below is chosen by first name.

• The Name-Day Gift Set ($149): the patron saint’s folding diptych, a stainless steel crucifix and a prayer rope, in a gift box with a card giving the saint’s life and feast day.
• Patron Saint & Cross ($99): the patron saint and the Guardian Angel in a red-velvet folding diptych, with a stainless three-bar crucifix and the saint’s card.
• The Family Set ($249): three patron saint diptychs, one for each name in the family, with an 8 in wooden wall crucifix.
• Single diptychs ($69) pair a saint with the Guardian Angel, such as St Nicholas the Wonderworker & Guardian Angel and St Patrick of Ireland & Guardian Angel.

Each is a printed icon under glass in a pine frame with velvet covers, 8 × 9.5 cm, closing like a book. You can add Consecration ($49) where it is offered: you receive a diptych our priest consecrated with holy water and the prayers of the Church before it left the workshop, numbered, with a signed certificate and a vial of holy water. Consecrated items are final sale. We ship to all 50 states, with free shipping on orders of $99 or more.