CHRISTMAS – DECEMBER 25

Christmas is an annual holiday that originated with Christians celebrating the birth of Jesus with feasts. Christmas festivities often combine the commemoration of Jesus' birth with various secular customs, many of which have been influenced by earlier winter festivals. The date as a birthdate for Jesus is traditional, and is not considered to be his actual date of birth. In most places around the world, Christmas Day is celebrated on December 25. The word "Christmas" is a contraction of two words "Christ and mass" and is derived from the Middle English Christemasse and Old English Cristes mæsse, a phrase first recorded in 1038. In early Greek versions of the New Testament, the letter Χ (chi), is the first letter of Christ (Χριστός). Since the mid-16th century Χ, or the similar Roman letter X, was used as an abbreviation for Christ. Thus, Xmas is an abbreviation for Christmas.

BOXING DAY – DECEMBER 26

In the United Kingdom and many countries of the Commonwealth, Boxing Day is a public holiday celebrated the day after Christmas Day, or alternatively on the next weekday after Christmas. There are disparate theories as to the origins of the term. The most common is it was the day when people would give a present or Christmas box to those who had worked for them throughout the year. With the immigration of many Brits, Boxing Day celebrations are becoming more common in the Gouves – Hersonissos area.

December 4: Varvara, Barbara

December 5: Savvas

December  6: Nikolaos, Nikos, Niki

December 9: Anna

December 12: Spyridon, Spiros

December 15: Eleftherios, Lefteris, Eleftheria

December 17: Daniel, Dionysios

December 18: Sevastianos, Zoe

December 19: Aglaia

December 20: Ignatios

December 21: Themistoklis, Ioulia, Julia

December 22: Anastasios, Anastasia

December 24: Evyenia

December 25: Christos, Chrissa, Chrisanthi, Christina

December 26: Emmanouil, Manolis, Manuella, Emma, Emmanouela

December 27: Stefanos, Stephania

FOR THE HOLIDAYS

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