Today, April 22nd, is my name day (or imieniny in Polish). I am told that in Poland, it is an equivalent celebration to the American birthday party, with family and friend, food and drinks, and even presents for chilredn and even adults. Sometimes sto lat (meaning 100 years, the traditional birtday song) is sung.
The Name Day is, I believe, related to the feast day of a saint in the Roman Catholic Church calendar, so April 22nd is the feast of St. Leon, Each day in the calendar has multiple names associated with it, and for some names, there are multiple name days–I imagine you just pick one? I am not sure.
What is your name day? Here are a few resources for you to use to find yours:
http://www.behindthename.com/namedays/country/pol
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Name_days_in_Poland
Good luck. And if you want to give me good wishes for today, you can say to me “Wszystkiego najlepszego z okazji imienin Leon!!!” Which means, wishing you all the best on the ocassion of your Name Day Leon.
I forgot about name day as my Gram was Anna and that was how she celebrated that St. Day.