September 2026 will be one of the most "name-rich" months of the year: in the church calendar, several saints are commemorated on each day, and their names are traditionally celebrated as name days. According to the publication Styler, September features both widely known names in Ukraine — Alexander, Michael, Nicholas, Ivan, Peter, Andrew, Mary — and rarer options that may come in handy for parents choosing a name for a newborn. The period from September 2 to 30 has virtually no "empty" dates: for example, on September 2 the saints Antony, Julian, Leonid, Herman, Peter, Basil, Seraphim, Paul, Vladimir, and Michael are honored, while on September 28 the list expands to more than two dozen names, including Juliana, Theodore, Rodion, Uljana, Cyril, and Tatiana.
How the Name Day Calendar Works
In the Christian tradition, a name day (the day of one's patron saint) is linked to the name of a saint venerated by the church: a person's heavenly patron is considered to be the saint whose name they bear. That is why the name day calendar is organized not by date of birth, but by the commemoration date of a specific saint. In September 2026, the middle of the month is particularly dense: on September 15 the list includes Makar, Mary, Maxim, Ignatius, Gregory, Nicholas, Peter, Dmitry, Eudokia, Lyudmila, Nikita, Leonid, and Gerasim, while on September 17 — Sophia, Faith, Hope, Love, Nicodemus, Ivan, Irina, and Seraphim. Such a concentration of names makes September a convenient month for finding one's "own" patron.
The Most Popular and Rarest Names of September
If we go by frequency of repetition, the leading male names of September are Michael, Nicholas, Peter, Ivan, Alexander, Andrew, Basil, and Gregory, which appear in the lists almost every week. Female names are more diverse: alongside Mary, Anna, Tatiana, Elena, and Lyudmila, the calendar also features rarer options — Seraphima, Eudokia, Domna, Fekla, Ariadne, Apollinaria, Fevronia, and Akulina. For parents looking for something unusual, Styler specifically highlights Ariadne and Apollinaria as examples of rarely used but melodious names whose commemoration falls in September.
Contradictory Data
It is important to note that there is no single "universal" list of name days. In different church calendars — Orthodox, Catholic, and others — the commemoration dates of the same saints may differ, and the list of names for a given date also varies across sources: some publications provide an extended list, others a shortened one. Therefore, when it comes to a specific baptism date or the exact day to congratulate someone on their name day, one should refer to the calendar of the church to which the person belongs. Styler's list for September 2026 reflects one such edition and is not the only possible version.
Tips for Parents Choosing a Name
The name day calendar can serve as one of the tools when choosing a name for a newborn: you may want to look at the names of saints whose commemoration falls on the baby's birthday, or pick a name celebrated in the nearby days. However, the publication emphasizes that this is not a strict rule. The key criteria remain how the name sounds with the patronymic and surname, its convenience in everyday life, and, above all, whether the parents themselves like the name. Thus, the September name day calendar is more of a hint and a source of inspiration than a mandatory regulation.
