Month names collection / metastudy

[Jorge_Stolfi]

So in the same way we have Christmas as a point of reference in the year, they had a lot more of "named" days that people were apparently supposed to know. It must have been more meaningful for them to refer to the Saint's name than just the month and the number. But we'd have a lot more data if they didn't  

In Italy the "onomastico" used to be more important than your birthday. That is the day of the saint after whom you were named -- so St. John's day if you are named John, etc.  That was usually the day when you had a party etc.

Here in Brazil people still commemorate the days of St. John the Baptist, St. Peter, and St. Paul in June.  They started as summer festivals in Portugal, but here they fall in winter.  The main items in those commemorations here included the neighborhood gathering around large bonfires in the evening, firecrackers and fireworks, sky lanterns, square dances in stereotypical peasants' costumes (with a "maestro" shouting orders in broken French, like "anarriê" for "en arrière"), and a hot brew of rum, ginger, cloves, and cinnamon.  Nothing religious; pure folklore.

All he