You can omit accent marks when searching the Latvian and Slovak name-day calendars here. The finder can locate an accented entry from an accent-free query and then display the name as it appears in the calendar.
For example, Emilija finds Emīlija, whose traditional Latvian calendar date is 22 May. Mikulas finds Mikuláš, listed on 6 December in the Slovak 2025 calendar. You can search with the letters available on your keyboard, then keep the complete displayed spelling for a card or reminder.
That convenience has a precise limit: removing accents is not the same as translating a name, changing letters or joining a compound. The examples below show how to get a useful result and what to do when a seemingly similar query does not match.
A complete example: Emilija to Emīlija
Open Find a name day with Emilija as the query and the traditional Latvian calendar selected.
The result displays Emīlija — 22 May. Its matching explanation indicates that the record was found by ignoring accents. The calendar spelling remains Emīlija, with the long-vowel mark on ī.
From that result you can open the Latvian 22 May page or use the celebration controls for the selected entry. If you save the annual calendar file, the event name retains Emīlija. Searching without the mark does not rewrite the stored name.
For a greeting, you might write:
Happy name day, Emīlija! I hope your day is full of good company and something lovely just for you.
This is an English suggested message using the calendar spelling. If the recipient normally prefers a different spelling in personal messages, use their preference. The lookup entry and the way somebody wants to be addressed are related information, not necessarily identical information.
A second example: Mikulas to Mikuláš
Search Mikulas in the Slovak calendar. The displayed result is Mikuláš — 6 December.
Two marks were absent from the query: the acute accent on á and the caron on š. The finder can still locate the whole name because its accent-free form matches Mikulas.
That is different from searching Nicholas. Nicholas is a related English name form, but its letters do not become Mikulas merely by removing accents. Our finder does not silently translate Nicholas to Mikuláš.
The distinction prevents a common misunderstanding: a result found despite missing marks is still an entry for the displayed name. It does not give the same date to every name in a wider linguistic family.
For the December association and differing national entries, see Nicholas name days.
What “exact” and “ignoring accents” mean
An exact spelling match uses the same letters and accent marks after ordinary case and surrounding-space handling. An accent-insensitive match succeeds after the marks are omitted for searching.
| Query | Displayed record | How to understand it |
|---|---|---|
| Emīlija | Emīlija | The name’s accented spelling matches |
| Emilija | Emīlija | The record was found despite omitted marks |
| Mikuláš | Mikuláš | The full spelling matches |
| Mikulas | Mikuláš | The accent-free form locates the entry |
| Nicholas | No automatic Mikuláš translation | Changing name forms requires a different lookup |
Capitalisation is not the obstacle here: EMĪLIJA and Emīlija can locate the same spelling. Nor do ordinary spaces accidentally placed before or after the query have to become part of the name.
Spaces inside a name, hyphens and different letters are another matter. An accent-tolerant search is not a general spelling-correction service. It does not decide that two visually similar names belong to one person or one date.
When you see several results, read the displayed records separately. The matching label explains how the query was found; the calendar label explains where the date comes from.
A search result has three parts
Keep the name, date and calendar together. The first two are insufficient when different lists use the same spelling.
For example, Nikola appears on 6 December in the integrated Latvian list and on 29 August in the Slovak 2025 list. Neither result requires an accent workaround. Both are exact spelling matches, but they are different calendar entries.
That example shows why “exact” does not mean “the only date in the world.” It means the query matches the record’s spelling. You still have to use the record whose calendar belongs to the person’s celebration.
If you are not sure which list you selected, use the calendar selector to narrow the results. A search across both integrated calendars is useful for comparison; selecting one is useful when you already know the relevant country.
Our multiple-date guide explains the other reasons a name can have more than one occasion.
How to search when your keyboard lacks the marks
There are two straightforward routes.
Type the unaccented whole name. Enter Emilija or Mikulas, preserving the letters and their order. Once the result appears, use the displayed spelling instead of guessing where marks belong.
Copy the preferred spelling. If the person has written their name in a message, copy it into the finder. This is especially useful when you are unsure whether the issue is an accent or a different letter.
You do not need to change the keyboard language simply to perform these two lookups. For writing repeated personal messages, you may find your device’s language keyboard or character picker convenient, but the name-day search can be completed without that setup.
If copying from a picture or scanned document, verify the letters against a readable text version. A mistaken character can survive copying and prevent a match. The finder can omit marks for searching; it cannot reconstruct every transcription error.
Why a copied name can still fail
A failed query can have several concrete causes:
| What happened | What to try |
|---|---|
| The wrong calendar is selected | Search the relevant list or compare both integrated lists |
| One letter was copied incorrectly | Compare the query with the person’s actual written name |
| A compound was typed with a different separator | Look for the form printed in that calendar |
| A nickname was used | Search the calendar form associated with the person’s name |
| The name belongs to a calendar not integrated here | Use that specific country’s or tradition’s resource |
| The name is absent from the selected list | Treat the result as an absence in that list |
Changing random letters until a hit appears is not a reliable way to determine somebody’s name day. A successful query for another name answers a different question.
A prefix suggestion can help you spot the intended spelling, but selecting it is a deliberate choice. Read the suggested name before treating its date as the answer.
For example, typing a short beginning of a name may show several possibilities. The presence of a familiar-looking suggestion is not evidence that the tool has identified your friend.
Similar names do not become identical when marks disappear
Accent-insensitive search is a retrieval aid. It deliberately broadens how you can type a query, while keeping each displayed record’s identity intact.
That means two records whose simplified spellings coincide should still be read as separate entries. Their marks, calendar labels or dates may distinguish them. The finder does not get to choose which spelling a person prefers.
For a greeting, the result is useful because it restores the marks you could not type. For a record of the calendar, it is useful because it preserves the source spelling. Neither function requires announcing that accented and unaccented forms are culturally interchangeable.
A simple example of good use is copying Emīlija from the displayed entry into a calendar title. A poor use would be overwriting Emīlija with Emilija everywhere because the simpler search happened to work.
Hyphenated and compound names need a different approach
An accent-free query does not automatically split Anna-Maria into Anna and Maria. Nor does the finder automatically replace the hyphen with a space.
Search the complete preferred form first. If it does not appear, determine whether the relevant list prints a different complete form or contains only the components.
The compound-name guide gives a concrete example: Latvian Annemarija has a whole-name date on 25 February, while Anna has a separate date on 26 July. Splitting the name before searching would miss that distinction.
This is why the solution to a keyboard problem should remain narrow. Omit marks you cannot enter; do not also remove separators, abbreviate the name and replace its letters unless you are deliberately testing different documented forms.
From search result to card, invitation or reminder
Once you have the right record, use the exact displayed spelling where appropriate and keep the calendar context in the reminder.
For Emīlija, a clear event is:
Emīlija’s name day — 22 May
Traditional Latvian calendar; send a message in the morning.
The action note makes the reminder useful. The calendar label explains the date. If you prefer the event title to use the recipient’s everyday form, retain the listed spelling in the description.
For a card, you usually do not need the calendar label. “Happy name day, Emīlija!” is enough. For an invitation, include the actual gathering date and time; the party may be on a weekend rather than the listed day.
The invitation wording guide and Google Calendar guide handle those next steps in detail.
If there is still no result
The integrated finder covers the identified Latvian and Slovak calendars. A blank result does not establish that a name has no name day in another country, language or religious tradition.
After confirming the letters and selected calendar, stop treating repeated search variations as progress if they only produce different names. The relevant next step is another calendar, a known patron connection or the person’s established celebration.
If the question concerns your own name and it is absent, you can choose a personal arrangement without inventing a national entry. The missing-name guide explains those options.
The intended outcome is practical: a keyboard limitation should not prevent you from finding Emīlija or Mikuláš, and the successful search should leave their names correctly written. The marks can be omitted from the query while remaining part of the answer.