Holiday Calendar

National Martha Day

Next celebratedSunday, December 27, 2026

Aramaic for the lady, the mistress, the name Martha reached English only after the Reformation. Americans keep December 27 for it, while the Roman Calendar keeps July 29, shared since 2021 with Mary and Lazarus.

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Last updated September 7, 2026 · by the Holiday Calendar TeamHave an update or spot an error?
YEARLY DATEDecember 27
OBSERVED INUnited States
CATEGORYNames
ORIGIN

Community Origin

FOUNDING ENTITY
Not documented
FIRST OBSERVED
Not documented
HOW THE HOLIDAY CAME TO BE

Online listings carried it by 2022, with no founder named.

No founder, organisation or establishing record has been identified for the December 27 observance, and no source gives a reason for the date. The earliest trace is an Internet Archive capture of a third-party holiday listing from August 2022, which dates the listing rather than the day.

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INTRO

A mix-up about her sister left Martha alone on July 29

National Martha Day arrives on the American calendar without a founder, a proclamation, or a stated reason for its date. The name it honors has a far better documented day. In 2021 that day stopped being Martha's alone.

On January 26 of that year the Congregation for Divine Worship signed a decree redesignating July 29 as the Memorial of Saints Martha, Mary and Lazarus. The reason it gave was not about Martha at all. It was about her sister.

The Latin Church's "traditional uncertainty" over the identity of Mary, the decree states, "resulted in the inclusion of Martha alone on 29 July in the Roman Calendar," and recent study has settled the question. Martha had held the date by herself because nobody could agree who the other woman was.

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ORIGINS

Martha Day history

INTRODUCTION

Luke's gospel puts Martha in a village a few kilometers from Jerusalem, welcoming a guest into her house. Vatican News describes her as "burdened with much serving" while her sister Mary sat and listened. She complained about it, and was told that Mary had chosen the better part.

That scene fixed her reputation. The Church recognises Martha as "a model of industriousness," and set her beside Mary as the example of the active life against the contemplative one.

CHAPTER 01

Why July 29 became hers

The date is not as ancient as the story. Vatican News puts the start of the liturgical memorial of Saint Martha at the Franciscans, in 1262, who "celebrated her feast on 29 July, eight days after the feast of her sister, St Mary Magdalene."

That placement set Martha inside her sister's octave. The 2021 revision kept the date and changed the title, so a day positioned by reference to Mary Magdalene now names Mary of Bethany and Lazarus beside Martha.

The revision was not only cosmetic. The old Entrance and Communion Antiphons survived unaltered, while the Collect and two other prayers were newly composed.

CHAPTER 02

A late arrival in English

The name travelled on a separate track. Behind the Name records that Martha "was not used in England until after the Protestant Reformation," which makes it a latecomer to English despite the age of the woman behind it.

National Martha Day belongs to that later, secular history, and its own record is thin. No founder, organisation or proclamation is attached to it, and no source explains why the day sits on December 27.

The earliest trace anyone can point to is an Internet Archive capture of a third-party holiday listing from August 2022. That dates the listing rather than the day, and nothing older has survived.

WHY THIS DAY MATTERS

Why National Martha Day Matters

LITURGY

One signed paragraph changed July 29 in every liturgical book.

The 2021 decree requires the memorial to appear under its new title "in all Calendars and Liturgical Books for the celebration of Mass and the Liturgy of the Hours." A single signed paragraph therefore reached every book that follows the General Roman Calendar.

SERVICE

The name is attached to the work of hosting

Saint Martha's listed patronages run almost entirely to service work, from cooks and domestic servants to innkeepers, laundry workers and travellers. The association follows the name wherever the older calendar is kept.

MEANING

The name means the mistress of the house

Martha comes from the Aramaic marta, meaning "the lady, the mistress," the feminine form of a word meaning "master." The tradition built around the woman who did the serving kept a name that says the opposite.

TIMELINE

Timeline

Franciscans set her feast

The liturgical memorial of Saint Martha begins with the Franciscans, who place her feast on July 29.

The last passenger pigeon dies

Martha, believed the last of her species, died at the Cincinnati Zoo on September 1 and was sent to the Smithsonian in a 300-pound block of ice.

Ford decorates Martha Graham

President Gerald Ford presented the Presidential Medal of Freedom with Distinction to the choreographer on October 14.

Decree renames the July memorial

A decree signed on January 26 redesignated July 29 as the Memorial of Saints Martha, Mary and Lazarus.

First archived listing captured

The earliest surviving Internet Archive capture of a third-party listing for the December 27 observance dates from August.

BY THE NUMBERS

National Martha Day by the Numbers

551,741
US girls named Martha, 1880-2025
10,651
Marthas recorded in 1947, its peak year
30th
SSA rank among 1940s girls' names
393
US girls named Martha in 2025

GOOD TO KNOW

Surprising facts about National Martha Day

A dragon sits among her symbols

Saint Martha's traditional emblems include a broom, a ladle and a bunch of keys at her girdle, and also a dragon bound with a girdle, standing for temptation resisted.

Patsy and Patty are listed as Martha diminutives

Behind the Name places Patsy, Patti, Pattie and Patty among Martha's English diminutives, beside Martie and Mattie.

One woman has held the center of a US banknote

Mount Vernon states that Martha Washington is the only woman to have her portrait as the central feature on paper currency; Pocahontas appeared on an 1869 note only inside a group scene.

Its highest American rank came in the 1880s

Martha's best position in the Social Security Administration's national series is 14th, reached in 1882 with 1,229 girls.

GET INVOLVED

How to Observe National Martha Day

EDITOR'S PICK

Read the 2021 decree for yourself

The Holy See Press Office bulletin carries the full English text. It was signed on January 26, 2021 and published on February 2.

LOOK

Look up the name in the federal data

The Social Security Administration publishes national name counts by year, going back to 1880. Its decade tables show where Martha stood at its height.

SEE

See the last passenger pigeon in person

The bird named Martha is on display at the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History in its Objects of Wonder exhibit. She is catalogued as USNM 223979.

MARK

Mark July 29 as well

The Roman Calendar keeps the Memorial of Saints Martha, Mary and Lazarus on that date. Observing both gives the name its documented day and its American one.

ASK

Ask a Martha which short form she uses

Behind the Name records six English short forms for the name. Asking is the quickest way to learn which one is actually in use.

Test your knowledge

How well do you know National Martha Day?

1 / 8

What did the Vatican change about July 29 in 2021?

Answer

No. It is an unofficial observance with no legal standing, and the Federal Register carries no document naming it, so December 27 is a normal working day.

COLOPHON

Sources

How we know what’s on this page. References, not endorsements.

12sources
7primary records
5independently dated
Primary records
Holy See Press Office2021-02-02
Decree of the Congregation for Divine Worship on the celebration of Saints Martha, Mary and Lazarus, in the General Roman Calendar
The signed decree redesignating July 29 and the reason it gives.
View source
Vatican News
Saint Martha, Disciple of the Lord
The Holy See's account of Martha, and the 1262 Franciscan origin of her feast.
View source
Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History
Martha, the Last Passenger Pigeon
The museum on the last passenger pigeon, her death in 1914 and her specimen.
View source
The American Presidency Project1976-10-14
Remarks Upon Presenting the Presidential Medal of Freedom to Martha Graham
Gerald Ford's remarks and the full medal citation of October 14, 1976.
View source
Social Security Administration2025
Beyond the Top 1000 Names: national data files
Yearly national name counts from 1880, the basis for every Martha figure here.
View source
Social Security Administration
Top names of the 1940s
The agency's published decade table, ranking Martha 30th with 95,384.
View source
Federal Register
Full-text document search for "National Martha Day"
Returns no documents naming the observance.
View source
Additional coverage
Catholic Culture2025
Memorial of Saints Martha, Mary and Lazarus, July 29, 2025
Saint Martha's patronages and symbols, and which Mass prayers the 2021 change altered.
View source
Behind the Name
Meaning, origin and history of the name Martha
The Aramaic etymology, the English diminutives, and the name's late arrival in England.
View source
Behind the Name
Name Days for the name Martha
The national calendars that carry Martha, in Austria, Denmark and Greece.
View source
George Washington's Mount Vernon
Martha on $1
The $1 silver certificate portrait, and the note on Pocahontas and the 1869 bill.
View source
Vatican News2021-02-02
Pope Francis adds memorials of 6 Saints to Roman Calendar
The announcement of the 2021 decrees and their effect on liturgical books.
View source
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