Orthodox Romanians celebrate St. John the Baptist (in Romanian Ioan Botezatorul) on January 7, when as many as 2 million Romanians also celebrate their name days. John the Baptist was an itinerant preacher and a major religious figure in Christianity, as he  baptized Jesus.

In Romania, 1.4 million men are named Ion, Ioan or Ionut, Ionel, Nelu or Ionica, while almost 0.6 million women are named Ioana, Ionela, Nela or Ionelia, making this name among the most popular in the country which has a total population of about 20 million people.

Other popular names are Mihai or Gabriel, with 1.3 million Romanians celebrating their name day on St. Mihail & Gavriil on November 8. Then 800,000 Romanians also celebrate their name day on December 5, for Saint Nicholas, making the names Nicolae (for men) or Nicoleta (for women), among the most popular in the country.

editor@romania-insider.com