[André]

Hi Gerda.

Happy "namnsdag".

In Sweden you have namnsdag today.

It says Gerda is a version of the nordic name Gerd, which means "she who protects". In nordic mythology the god Frejs wifes name was Gerd.

Gerda could also be a version of the german name Gerdeke( from Gertrud). Meaning spear or force. Force is good Gerda.

In Sweden there are 5300 who has the name Gerda and 2300 use it as their first name.



/André

[SmurfingH]

Yay! Happy "namnsdag" Gerda!

[André]

I don´t know how many countries have these names in the calenders.

In Sweden it started in 1600, when the christian church wanted the people to celebrate "namnsdagar" and "baptiste days" instead of birthdays. So it has been in the calenders a long time here. 2 names every day.

Nowadays they changes the names sometimes to more common names.

/André

[Ritter_Schlumpfenherz]

@Andre:
Here in Germany, there are some Catholic areas, which would celebrate forename's days as if it was your birthday.

@Gerda: Wishing you a belated name's day.

[Gerda]

Thanks Andre, I had never heard of a names day before. It's neat to hear my name used at all. As you can imagine Gerda is not a very popular name in the u.s and very few people here have ever heard of it before.