In ancient Greek tradition, the ceremony introducing a newborn to the household around the fifth day after birth was called amphidromia.
Amphidromia was a domestic ritual in ancient Greece, especially associated with Athens. During the ceremony, the baby was carried around the household hearth, a symbolic act that connected the child with the family home and its religious life. The name comes from Greek words associated with going or running around.
The ceremony generally occurred on the fifth or seventh day after birth, depending on the source and local practice. It could include a family meal and the formal recognition of the child within the household. The child’s naming was often associated with a later ceremony, the dekate, held on the tenth day.
Amphidromia is sometimes confused with modern naming celebrations, but the ancient ritual’s central image was the newborn’s movement around the hearth, not a contemporary gift-giving party.