When birthday and name day fall on the same date: two Jelgava women's stories
Several employees at Jelgava City Hospital share the coincidence of having their birthday and name day on the same date — two of them spoke about the experience.
In Latvia, it is not unusual for a person's birthday and name day to fall on the same date. At Jelgava City Hospital alone, five employees share this coincidence, and two of them — outpatient and inpatient nurse Ivanda Zeltiņa and radiology assistant Ināra Vecmuktāne — shared their experiences in more detail.
Ivanda Zeltiņa
Ivanda Zeltiņa was born and lived in Auce until age 15, but considers herself a true resident of Jelgava, having lived there for 36 years; her father is also from Jelgava. Two years ago she changed jobs and moved to work in Jelgava, having previously spent 33 years working at the Children's Hospital in Riga. Her birthday and name day both fall on January 8 — the same date Elvis Presley was born, and she plays one of his recordings every year on her birthday.
Ivanda comes from a family of five children and is the only one whose birthday and name day coincide. As a child, this occasionally brought a slight sense of sadness, since she received gifts only once a year while her siblings received them twice. Now she is content with the arrangement and considers the day, much like Christmas, to be special and worth marking.
Ināra Vecmuktāne
Ināra Vecmuktāne has worked at Jelgava City Hospital since 1995 — her only workplace with such a long tenure. She originally comes from the Jēkabpils municipality and has lived in Jelgava since 1994.
Ināra also comes from a family of five children and, like Ivanda, is the only sibling whose birthday and name day fall on the same date.
