218 Hard Christmas Trivia Questions and Answers

19. The French word “Noel” is often used around Christmas, but what was its original meaning in Latin?

Reveal answer

Birth

You can definitely see why Noel became so synonymous with Christmas!

20. What Roman holiday held from December 17^th to the 23^rd may have influenced how Christmas was celebrated?

Reveal answer

Saturnalia

Saturnalia was one of the most popular holidays in the Roman calendar. It of course involved lots of feasts and drinking and merry making. Because, well, they’re Roman. But it also involved role reversals where slaves were allowed to be rude to their owners and by some accounts were waited on by their owners. Also, similarly to our modern Christmas, there was lots of gift giving, including the Sigillaria, named for the small figurines given as gifts.

Even though the timing is similar, it isn’t believed that December 25^th was chosen as the date for Christmas because of Saturnalia. Some people believe that the origin for the date for Christmas was the Roman feast day Sol Invictus which was also on December 25^th. And others insist that the date of conception was the basis for choosing December 25^th as day when Jesus was born. But really what it all boils down to is that there is a lot of controversy on how December 25^th was chosen as the date for Christmas.

21. Among Christians who lived in the East, when was Christmas originally celebrated?

Reveal answer

January 6^th

In the West, the first record of Christmas on December 25^th comes from 4^th-century Rome. Now most Christians celebrate on December 25^th, though some Orthodox churches keep the older Julian calendar and celebrate on January 7^th, and the Armenians still keep January 6^th.

22. In what century is the spelling “Xmas” first recorded in writing?

Reveal answer

The 18^th century (1721)

The “X” in Xmas comes from the Greek letter Chi which looks like an “X”. The letter “X” has long been used as an abbreviation for Christ since the Greek word for Christ begins with what looks like an “X”. Older X spellings of Christmas exist, like “X’temmas” in 1551, and medieval scribes wrote “Xpes mæsse” even earlier. But the exact spelling “Xmas” first shows up in the early 1700s. Christ was often written with the letters Chi (X) Rho (p) which looks like Xp. The Chi-Rho symbol representing Christ looks like this:

Reveal answer

Odin

Propaganda posters showed Odin as a “Christmas or Solstice man”. They also renamed Christmas trees, reportedly rewrote the words to Silent Night, and there were even swastika shaped tree lights. Most Germans kept their Christian traditions anyway.

44. Eight-year-old Virginia O'Hanlon wrote to the New York Sun to settle what question about Santa?

Reveal answer

Whether he exists (accept 'Is there a Santa Claus?')

Her papa had told her, "If you see it in the Sun, it's so," so she went straight to the source. The paper answered with an unsigned editorial, and its author, a man named Church, wasn't revealed until after he died in 1906.

Sources (2)

45. The modern Santa Claus is mainly a mix of what two figures?

Reveal answer

Saint Nicholas (Sinterklaas in Dutch) and Father Christmas

St. Nicholas was a Greek bishop who lived in the 4^th century and was famous for his generosity and gift giving. Sinterklaas (Dutch for St. Nicholas) gives gifts on December 5^th and is based on St. Nicholas. English personifications of Christmas go back to the 15^th century, and the name Father Christmas is recorded from 1658. He is the personification of Christmas cheer and is widely considered synonymous with the modern Santa Claus.

And for good measure, some folklorists see a bit of Odin in Santa, especially the long white beard and the midwinter ride, which is a lot like Odin’s Wild Hunt. But it’s only a theory, and there’s not a lot of direct evidence linking them.

There are lots of other gift giving figures around Europe and elsewhere, but as far as I can tell Father Christmas and Saint Nicholas are the main influences behind Santa Claus as we know him today.

46. When Rudolph was created, a Montgomery Ward boss worried his red nose would make people think of what bad habit?

Reveal answer

Drinking (accept being a drunk or drunkenness)

Back then a red nose was the mark of a drunk, which isn't ideal for a Christmas story. Robert May insisted kids would relate to an unlikely hero, and he took a friend from Ward's art department to the Lincoln Park Zoo to sketch deer for it.

Sources (2)

47. The professor who wrote the words to 'America the Beautiful' also helped popularize which member of Santa's family?

Reveal answer

Mrs. Claus (accept Santa's wife)

Katharine Lee Bates put her in a poem, 'Goody Santa Claus on a Sleigh Ride', in an 1889 book of verses for children, and it helped make Mrs. Claus a household name. So the same pen gave us spacious skies and Santa's wife.

Sources (2)

48. In the story NORAD tells, a department store's Santa ad in 1955 listed a number one digit off, and a child calling Santa reached Colonel Harry Shoup's phone in Colorado Springs. That's the origin of NORAD tracking Santa. Which store ran the ad?

Reveal answer

Sears (accept Sears, Roebuck)

That's the story as the Shoup family tells it, and some accounts file it under legend. Still, picture a kid getting a colonel on the line.

Sources (2)

49. In what decade did Coca-Cola start using Santa Claus in advertisements?

Reveal answer

1920's

There’s a myth that Coca-Cola invented the modern Santa Claus and his red and white suit. But there are numerous examples of a Santa Claus as we know him with his red and white suit well before Coca-Cola started their advertising campaign. That being said, their advertising definitely helped to cement the image of the modern Santa Claus in the minds of consumers.

50. St. Nicholas, the model for Santa Claus, was bishop of Myra in what present-day country?

Reveal answer

Turkey

His birthplace was there too, in Patara on the southern coast of present-day Turkey. He became Bishop of Myra in the 4th century. Myra is now Demre, so it's the modern map you need for this one.

Sources (2)

51. What political cartoonist is largely responsible for defining what the modern Santa Claus looks like?

Reveal answer

Thomas Nast

Thomas Nast drew a picture of Santa Claus for the January 1, 1881 issue of Harper’s Weekly and the rest of the media ran with it. It became the visual prototype of the Santa Claus we all know and love. He also drew an earlier version of Santa Claus in the January 3, 1863 issue of Harper's Weekly but it doesn't resemble the modern Santa as much as his 1881 drawing.

Here is the 1881 drawing:

Thomas Nast Santa Claus - Christmas Trivia

And here is the 1863 drawing:

1863 Thomas Nast Santa Claus - Christmas Trivia

You'll probably need to click the picture and zoom in to get a good look at Santa

52. What was the poem “Twas the Night Before Christmas” originally titled?

Reveal answer

Account of a Visit from St. Nicholas (now usually called A Visit from St. Nicholas)

It was anonymously published in 1823. It has been attributed to, and claimed by, Clement Clarke Moore but there is some controversy as to whether he actually wrote it.

53. What entrepreneur is credited with being the first to dress up as Santa in his department store and starting the tradition of department store / mall Santas?

Carol of the Drum

It was written and composed in 1941 by Katherine Kennicot Davis and was popularized by the Trapp Family Singers and the Harry Simeone Chorale.

72. Which charity single kept Wham!'s 'Last Christmas' off the UK Christmas number one spot in 1984?

Reveal answer

Do They Know It's Christmas? (Band Aid)

Wham! had a long wait after that. 'Last Christmas' finally became the Christmas number one in 2023, 39 years after its release, which was then the record for the longest journey to the top spot.

Sources (3)

Reveal answer

They were brothers-in-law

John D. Marks, the writer of the song Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer, was famous for writing other Christmas songs. He wrote Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree, A Holly Jolly Christmas, Silver and Gold, as well as others. Surprisingly, he also happened to be Jewish.

78. The man who wrote Jingle Bells was the uncle of which famous American banker?

Reveal answer

100. In the usual story behind robins on British Christmas cards, which Victorian workers do the birds represent?

Reveal answer

Postmen

Victorian postmen wore red uniforms, which earned them the nickname "robins." The usual story is that the robins on Christmas cards stood for the postmen who delivered them. It's a nice story, even if nobody has proved it.

Sources (2)

101. What northeastern US state holds the Guinness record for largest snowman?

Reveal answer

Maine

Specifically, the town of Bethel, Maine. They built the tallest snowman, actually a snowwoman, named Olympia. She is 122ft 1in tall, or 37.21 meters. The record was set in 2008.

102. The first commercial Christmas card, from 1843, got its makers into trouble over what a little girl in the family scene is doing. What is she doing?

Reveal answer

Sipping wine (from an adult's glass; accept drinking alcohol)

The whole family is raising a glass, and a young girl is having a sip from an adult's. That got Henry Cole, who commissioned the card, and John Callcott Horsley, who drew it, an earful from the temperance movement, the campaigners against drinking.

It sold for a shilling, which was expensive then, and London's V&A museum says it was judged a commercial flop.

Sources (6)

103. Beginning in 2007, Rockefeller Center's Christmas tree became lumber for which charity that builds houses?

Reveal answer

Habitat for Humanity

That first year's lumber helped build a house in Mississippi for a Hurricane Katrina survivor. Not a bad second career for a Christmas tree.

Sources (3)

104. What plant based Christmas tradition did servants in England popularize?

Reveal answer

Kissing under the mistletoe

Mistletoe had some pagan associations long before Christmas, but no one knows exactly how the tradition of kissing started. But what we do know is that kissing under the mistletoe was popular among servants in late 18^th century England, and it spread from the servants to the upper classes by Victorian times.

105. Tinsel was originally made to imitate ice. Which precious metal did its makers use?

Reveal answer

111. What country is the Poinsettia, with its red and green foliage, native to?

Reveal answer

Mexico

It derives its English name from Joel Roberts Poinsett, the first US minister to Mexico. He is credited with introducing the plant to the US in the 1820s.

Montgomery Ward

They ordered a new Christmas book be made so that they could hand them out for free to customers, which would be cheaper than buying and giving away coloring books for Christmas as they had done in the past. They gave the task to Robert L. May who wrote Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer in 1939. In a surprisingly generous gesture, Montgomery Ward gave May the copyright for Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer.

126. How many wise men / Magi / kings does the bible say visited the baby Jesus?

Reveal answer

It doesn’t mention a number.

Okay so this was a bit of a trick question. But it really surprised me. The book of Matthew, the only gospel to mention the wise men / Magi / kings, doesn’t say how many there were. It just says that they visited the baby Jesus and offered him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. People just assume that there were three wise men because there were three gifts. But really the author could have been talking about two or seven or fifty wise men / Magi / kings.

Reveal answer

Schoolchildren (accept kids or children, or pupils of Madrid's San Ildefonso school)

Every December 22nd, pupils from Madrid's San Ildefonso school pull balls from two giant drums and sing out the numbers and prizes, in a rhythm the whole country knows. AP says the school's children have sung the prizes since the lottery began in 1812.

The top prize is nicknamed El Gordo, "the fat one." I do like a prize name that gets straight to the point.

Sources (6)

146. What fast-food chicken has become a famous Christmas meal in Japan?

Reveal answer

KFC fried chicken

It’s so popular in fact, that people order it months in advance or face standing in long lines to get their Christmas fried chicken.

147. What Southeast Asian country boasts the longest holiday season starting with decorations and carols as early as September and celebrations that sometimes last well into January?

Reveal answer

The Philippines

People in the Philippines start celebrating with decorations and carols in the “ber” months, as early as September. Nine dawn Masses, called Simbang Gabi, run from December 16^th to 24^th, and many people keep celebrating through the Feast of the Black Nazarene on January 9^th. With the Santo Nino celebrations on the third Sunday of January, the celebrations can continue into mid-to-late January.

148. In what northern European country might you receive gifts from a different Yule Lad each night if you leave your shoes on the window sill the each of the 13 days before Christmas?

Reveal answer

Iceland

Of course if you’ve been bad you might receive a rotten potato. Each Yule Lad specializes in one bad behavior. The English translation of their names are great. There is Sausage-Swiper, Stubby, Window-Peeper, Door-Sniffer and so on. You should really check out the Wikipedia page on Yule Lads, good stuff.

149. In what Central American country might you find yourself kicking off the holiday season by burning the devil on December 7^th while sweeping your house?

Reveal answer

Christmas trivia PDFs

Below are easily printable PDFs for all of our Christmas trivia. You can get a PDF with just the trivia questions, just the answers, or with both the trivia questions and answers. There's also a Hardest 50 PDF if you want only the toughest ones.

Think we got one wrong?

Let us know! Tell us the question number, what we got wrong and where you found the right answer.

More trivia

How about some more trivia questions? Head back to our main trivia page or choose one of these:

1. On Christmas Day in the year 800, the pope crowned which king as emperor in Rome?

2. When Parliament abolished Christmas in 1647, which recurring day did it give workers as a replacement holiday?

3. Around St. Nicholas Day in medieval England, a choirboy could be chosen to lead processions while acting as which church figure?

4. The first royal Christmas broadcast, by King George V on the radio in 1932, was written by which famous author?

5. Our AD year count, which starts from the birth of Christ, was invented by a monk in 525 while he worked out the dates of which holiday?

6. Which city did General William T. Sherman offer Lincoln as a Christmas gift in a December 1864 telegram?

7. Which king was crowned in Westminster Abbey on Christmas Day 1066?

8. When decorated trees returned to the Soviet Union in 1935, which holiday were they meant to celebrate?

9. Which explorer named the southeast African coast Natal on Christmas Day in 1497, a name that survives in KwaZulu-Natal?

10. During the Christmas Truce of 1914, what sport did some British and German soldiers play together?

11. Under which president was the first known White House Christmas tree put up in 1889?

12. Before becoming tied up with Christmas what was Yule?

13. Which book of the Bible did the Apollo 8 crew read from during their Christmas Eve 1968 broadcast?

14. In Tudor England, a peasant or subdeacon could be put in charge of the Christmas revels, with mock power over even the king. What was his title?

15. Which president presided over the first National Christmas Tree lighting on the Ellipse in 1923?

16. Which scientist was born in England on Christmas Day in 1642, according to the Julian calendar then in use?

17. In which decade did Congress first make Christmas a federal holiday?

18. What Christian group banned Christmas in Boston from 1659 to 1681?

19. The French word “Noel” is often used around Christmas, but what was its original meaning in Latin?

20. What Roman holiday held from December 17th to the 23rd may have influenced how Christmas was celebrated?

21. Among Christians who lived in the East, when was Christmas originally celebrated?

22. In what century is the spelling “Xmas” first recorded in writing?

23. In Matthew's Gospel, what kind of building do the wise men enter to find Jesus with Mary?

24. Which Roman emperor orders the registration that takes Mary and Joseph to Bethlehem in Luke's Gospel?

25. Neither Matthew nor Luke mentions animals at the birth. Which book of the Bible has the line "The ox knows its owner, and the donkey its master's crib"?

26. Which Italian painter saw Halley's Comet in 1301, painted it as the Star of Bethlehem, and later had a space probe named after him?

27. Frankincense and myrrh, two gifts listed in Matthew, are both dried forms of what natural substance?

28. Which saint is credited with the first living nativity scene, at Greccio in Italy in 1223?

29. After seeing a new star in 1604, which astronomer worked out a planetary conjunction in 7 BC and linked it to the Star of Bethlehem?

30. In Hebrew, Bethlehem means "house of" what?

31. The wise men are called the magi. Which everyday English word comes from the same Greek root?

32. Does Luke 2 mention an innkeeper?

33. Which two of the four Gospels tell the story of Jesus' birth?

34. In 1087, sailors made off with about half the skeleton of St. Nicholas, the saint behind Santa Claus. Which present-day country were they from?

35. When A Visit from St. Nicholas was first printed in 1823, two of the reindeer were called Dunder and Blixem. What do those Dutch words mean?

36. Russia's Ded Moroz, or Father Frost, doesn't bring elves along, and his helper isn't his wife. Which relative helps him deliver presents?

37. "Kris Kringle" became a name for Santa in the US, but the German word behind it refers to whom?

38. Which religious reformer is credited with moving gift giving from St Nicholas Day to Christmas Eve?

39. In Arctic reindeer, one body part changes color from gold in summer to deep blue in winter, which helps them cope with the long dark. Which part?

40. Santa Claus, Indiana, had to drop its first choice of name because the state already had a post office by that name. The townspeople only had to swap one word. What was the original name?

41. When the Rudolph TV special first aired in 1964, viewers wrote letters complaining that Santa never did what for the Misfit Toys?

42. In a 2012 episode of The Office, Dwight Schrute dresses up as which fur-clad Christmas figure from his family's Pennsylvania Dutch tradition?

43. Who did the German Nazi Regime try to replace Santa Claus / St. Nick with?

44. Eight-year-old Virginia O'Hanlon wrote to the New York Sun to settle what question about Santa?

45. The modern Santa Claus is mainly a mix of what two figures?

46. When Rudolph was created, a Montgomery Ward boss worried his red nose would make people think of what bad habit?

47. The professor who wrote the words to 'America the Beautiful' also helped popularize which member of Santa's family?

48. In the story NORAD tells, a department store's Santa ad in 1955 listed a number one digit off, and a child calling Santa reached Colonel Harry Shoup's phone in Colorado Springs. That's the origin of NORAD tracking Santa. Which store ran the ad?

49. In what decade did Coca-Cola start using Santa Claus in advertisements?

50. St. Nicholas, the model for Santa Claus, was bishop of Myra in what present-day country?

51. What political cartoonist is largely responsible for defining what the modern Santa Claus looks like?

52. What was the poem “Twas the Night Before Christmas” originally titled?

53. What entrepreneur is credited with being the first to dress up as Santa in his department store and starting the tradition of department store / mall Santas?

54. In what decade did NORAD (North American Aerospace Defense Command, which took over from CONAD) start tracking Santa on Christmas Eve?

55. Which sunny place features in the opening verse dropped from 'White Christmas'?

56. Which instrument accompanied the first performance of 'Silent Night' on Christmas Eve 1818?

57. Isaac Watts didn't write 'Joy to the World' as a Christmas carol. He based it on which book of the Bible?

58. The tune of "Deck the Halls" also belongs to the Welsh carol "Nos Galan," whose title names which night?

59. What title did the historical Wenceslas hold before he was given the title of king?

60. For what kind of party did Frank Loesser write 'Baby, It's Cold Outside' in 1944?

61. Maryland's former state song, "Maryland, My Maryland," uses the tune of which Christmas carol?

62. The Ukrainian song behind 'Carol of the Bells' describes which bird flying into a house?

63. In 1839, the first known US performance of 'Silent Night' took place in New York's Trinity Church cemetery, in front of whose memorial?

64. The tune of 'Joy to the World' was long credited to which famous composer, even though it has never been found in his works?

65. Judy Garland objected to an early draft of which Christmas song that included "It may be your last"?

66. Who was wrongly said to have written 'Away in a Manger' as a song for his children?

67. What kind of weather prompted Bob Wells to jot down the winter images that became 'The Christmas Song'?

68. Before it became the tune of 'Good King Wenceslas', the melody belonged to a carol about which season?

69. Which bridge was Lee Mendelson crossing when he heard the Vince Guaraldi recording that led him to choose Guaraldi for Peanuts?

70. Gene Autry got the idea for which Christmas song when children at Hollywood's 1946 parade reportedly ignored him and shouted about someone else?

71. What was the original title for The Little Drummer Boy?

72. Which charity single kept Wham!'s 'Last Christmas' off the UK Christmas number one spot in 1984?

73. What popular holiday song was written during the Cuban missile crisis and was a plea for peace?

74. What instrument did Wally Schirra play during Gemini 6A's performance of 'Jingle Bells' in 1965?

75. Which royal-sounding Christmas nickname did Mariah Carey unsuccessfully try to trademark?

76. Before Mariah Carey's 'All I Want for Christmas Is You' hit No. 1 in 2019, only one Christmas song had ever topped the Billboard Hot 100, back in 1958. Which one?

77. How were the writer of the story Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer and the writer of the song Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer related?

78. The man who wrote Jingle Bells was the uncle of which famous American banker?

79. The bank PNC prices the Twelve Days of Christmas gifts every year. Which gift is its cheapest labor, paid minimum wage?

80. How old was Brenda Lee when she recorded 'Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree'?

20. What Roman holiday held from December 17^th to the 23^rd may have influenced how Christmas was celebrated?

84. In the song Twelve Days of Christmas, what is given on the 7^th day?