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Christmas Trivia Questions
Trees, truces, thirteen Yule Lads and a reindeer invented by a department store. Play the Christmas trivia round, then read every question and answer below.
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Christmas trivia is unusually rich because the holiday is a stack of borrowed customs rather than a single tradition. The tree came from Germany, the midwinter feast from the Norse, the gift-bringer from a bishop in Asia Minor, the red-nosed reindeer from an American department store leaflet, and the modern card from a Victorian civil servant who could not face writing letters. Set those origins next to each other and almost every familiar detail turns out to have an unfamiliar history.
The round below runs from the customs everyone shares through to the ones that stop at a national border: a log that delivers presents in Catalonia, thirteen mischievous visitors in Iceland, a book given and read the same night, and a fried chicken order that has become a Japanese Christmas Eve fixture.
Origins and history: christmas trivia questions
On which date is Christmas Day observed by most Western churches?
Answer: 25 December EasyMany Orthodox churches keep the same feast on 7 January under the older Julian calendar.
Saint Nicholas, the historical figure behind Santa Claus, was a bishop in a city now in which country?
Answer: Turkey MediumHe was bishop of Myra, on the southern coast of what is now Turkey.
The word Yule comes from a midwinter festival kept by which peoples?
Answer: Germanic and Norse peoples MediumThe old festival was absorbed into Christmas as northern Europe was converted.
The Christmas truce, when soldiers left their trenches to meet in no man's land, took place in which year?
Answer: 1914 HardIt happened in the first winter of the First World War and was not repeated on the same scale.
Christmas festivities were banned in England during the rule of which figure?
Answer: Oliver Cromwell HardThe Puritan-led Parliament outlawed the feast in the 1640s; it returned with the monarchy in 1660.
Christmas became an official federal holiday in the United States in which decade?
Answer: The 1870s HardCongress made it a federal holiday in 1870, long after individual states had done so.
The first commercial Christmas card was produced in which decade?
Answer: The 1840s HardHenry Cole commissioned it in London in 1843, the same year as A Christmas Carol.
The most widely accepted explanation for the name Boxing Day involves what?
Answer: Boxes of alms and gifts given to the poor and to servants HardChurch alms boxes were opened and distributed the day after Christmas.
Traditions around the world: christmas trivia questions
What is 26 December called in the United Kingdom?
Answer: Boxing Day EasyIt is a public holiday in Britain and many Commonwealth countries.
Which country gives London a Christmas tree for Trafalgar Square every year?
Answer: Norway MediumOslo has sent one annually since 1947 as thanks for wartime support.
In Italy, which figure traditionally brings gifts to children at Epiphany?
Answer: La Befana MediumShe is pictured as an old woman on a broomstick who arrives on the night of 5 January.
How many Yule Lads visit Icelandic children in the run-up to Christmas?
Answer: Thirteen MediumThey arrive one per night over the thirteen nights before Christmas.
In Catalonia, children traditionally receive presents from a decorated what?
Answer: Log MediumThe Tio de Nadal is a hollow log given a face, a blanket and a hat.
In the Netherlands, Sinterklaas traditionally brings gifts on the evening of which date?
Answer: 5 December HardDutch families keep the main present-giving separate from Christmas Day itself.
Jolabokaflod, the Christmas book flood in which books are given and read on Christmas Eve, is a tradition of which country?
Answer: Iceland HardIt grew from wartime paper rationing, when books were among the few goods not restricted.
Food and drink: christmas trivia questions
In the United States, what is traditionally left out for Santa on Christmas Eve?
Answer: Milk and cookies EasyBritish households more often leave a mince pie and a glass of sherry.
In Japan, a widely followed Christmas Eve custom involves ordering food from which chain?
Answer: KFC MediumThe habit grew out of a marketing campaign launched in the 1970s.
A traditional British Christmas pudding is usually set alight with which drink?
Answer: Brandy MediumThe alcohol burns off quickly, leaving a brief blue flame.
A rich drink of eggs, cream, sugar and often spirits, popular at Christmas in North America, is called what?
Answer: Eggnog MediumGlogg is the Nordic spiced wine, and wassail the older English spiced ale.
Wigilia, a meat-free Christmas Eve supper with an odd number of dishes, is a tradition in which country?
Answer: Poland HardThe meal traditionally begins when the first star is seen in the sky.
Carols and music: christmas trivia questions
How many days of gifts are counted in the song The Twelve Days of Christmas?
Answer: Twelve EasyThe twelve days run from Christmas Day to Epiphany on 6 January.
The carol Silent Night was originally written in which language?
Answer: German MediumIt was first performed in a village church in Austria in 1818.
The carol known in Latin as Adeste Fideles is sung in English under which title?
Answer: O Come, All Ye Faithful MediumThe Latin text is still sung in many carol services alongside the English version.
Who composed the ballet The Nutcracker?
Answer: Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky HardIt was poorly received at its 1892 premiere in St Petersburg.
Who wrote the song White Christmas?
Answer: Irving Berlin HardBing Crosby's recording of it became one of the best-selling singles ever made.
Good King Wenceslas, from the carol, actually ruled which territory?
Answer: Bohemia HardHe was a tenth-century duke, not a king, and was canonised after his murder.
Handel's Messiah, now a Christmas concert staple, was first performed in which city?
Answer: Dublin HardThe 1742 premiere was a charity performance, and the work was written for Easter.
The song Jingle Bells is often said to have originally been written for which holiday?
Answer: Thanksgiving HardIts lyrics describe a sleigh ride and never mention Christmas at all.
Stories and screen: christmas trivia questions
What is the name of the miser at the centre of A Christmas Carol?
Answer: Ebenezer Scrooge EasyMarley is his dead business partner, and Cratchit his underpaid clerk.
Who wrote A Christmas Carol?
Answer: Charles Dickens EasyHe wrote it in about six weeks and published it in December 1843.
Which 1990 film features a boy left behind while his family flies to Paris?
Answer: Home Alone EasyMacaulay Culkin was ten years old when it was released.
In the film It's a Wonderful Life, what is the name of the angel sent to help George Bailey?
Answer: Clarence MediumThe film flopped on release in 1946 and only became a fixture through television repeats.
Rudolph the red-nosed reindeer was created in 1939 for which American retailer?
Answer: Montgomery Ward MediumCopywriter Robert L. May wrote him for a giveaway booklet handed to shoppers.
Symbols and figures: christmas trivia questions
Which reindeer is famous for a glowing red nose?
Answer: Rudolph EasyHe is a twentieth-century addition and does not appear in the older reindeer poem.
Under which plant is it traditional to kiss at Christmas?
Answer: Mistletoe EasyMistletoe grows as a parasite on the branches of other trees.
In popular tradition, where does Santa Claus live?
Answer: The North Pole EasyFinland promotes a rival claim, placing his home in Lapland.
The custom of bringing a decorated evergreen tree indoors spread across Europe from which country?
Answer: Germany EasyIt reached Britain widely after Prince Albert popularised it in the 1840s.
According to the Nativity story, which three gifts did the wise men bring?
Answer: Gold, frankincense and myrrh EasyFrankincense and myrrh are both aromatic tree resins, and were costly trade goods.
An Advent calendar counts down to which day?
Answer: Christmas Day EasyMost versions have twenty-four doors, opening from 1 December.
In the Nativity account, Jesus is born in which town?
Answer: Bethlehem EasyNazareth is where the family is described as living afterwards.
The poinsettia, a common Christmas plant, is native to which country?
Answer: Mexico MediumIts red parts are not petals but coloured leaves called bracts.
Krampus, the horned companion who punishes badly behaved children, comes from the folklore of which region?
Answer: The Alps HardAustrian and Bavarian towns still hold Krampus parades in early December.
Answer key
- 25 December
- Rudolph
- Ebenezer Scrooge
- Charles Dickens
- Mistletoe
- The North Pole
- Germany
- Twelve
- Gold, frankincense and myrrh
- Home Alone
- Boxing Day
- Christmas Day
- Bethlehem
- Milk and cookies
- Norway
- German
- Turkey
- Germanic and Norse peoples
- Clarence
- La Befana
- KFC
- Thirteen
- Mexico
- O Come, All Ye Faithful
- Log
- Brandy
- Montgomery Ward
- Eggnog
- Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
- 1914
- Oliver Cromwell
- Irving Berlin
- The Alps
- The 1870s
- Bohemia
- 5 December
- The 1840s
- Poland
- Boxes of alms and gifts given to the poor and to servants
- Dublin
- Thanksgiving
- Iceland
How to play
- Pick a mode: multiple choice, true or false, a 60-second sprint, or the daily quiz.
- Answer with a tap, or press 1 to 4 on a keyboard. The right answer appears straight away with a line explaining it.
- Finish the round to see your score, copy the result grid, and step up a difficulty.
- Hosting a night? The full christmas list and a separate answer key are printed below, and the print layout drops the game and keeps the paper.
Tiebreaker questions
Closest guess wins. Read one out when two tables finish level.
In what year was the carol Silent Night first performed in Oberndorf?
Answer: 1818 It was sung on Christmas Eve in an Austrian village church.
In what year did the Christmas truce take place along the Western Front?
Answer: 1914 Soldiers met in no man's land during the first winter of the war.
In what year was the first commercial Christmas card produced in Britain?
Answer: 1843 It was commissioned by Henry Cole and sold as a printed card.
Common mistakes in christmas trivia
- Christmas trees were invented in Victorian Britain.
Decorated indoor evergreens were established in German-speaking Europe well before the Victorians. British popularity followed illustrations of the royal family's tree in the 1840s.
- Coca-Cola invented the red-suited Santa Claus.
A red-robed, plump Santa appeared in American illustration decades earlier, notably in Thomas Nast's drawings. Coca-Cola's advertising spread the image rather than creating it.
- The Bible says three wise men visited Jesus.
The account names three gifts but never states how many visitors there were. The number three was inferred later from the gifts.
- Boxing Day is named after boxing up unwanted presents.
The name comes from boxes of money and goods given to servants, tradespeople and the poor on the day after Christmas.
- Jingle Bells has always been a Christmas song.
It was written as a winter sleighing song and is widely reported to have been associated with Thanksgiving first. Its lyrics mention no Christmas element at all.
- Everyone celebrates Christmas on 25 December.
Several Orthodox churches follow the Julian calendar and mark Christmas in early January. In much of Europe the main gift-giving night is Christmas Eve or Saint Nicholas Day.
Running this round at a quiz night
Christmas rounds are for mixed company, so keep them warm rather than hard. Alternate symbols and figures with carols and a film question, and slip in one origins question every four or five so the round has some backbone. Read the world traditions ones slowly, because they are the ones people remember. The dispute to plan for is regional: gift days, meals and even the main celebration night differ by country, so word answers as what is traditional in a named place rather than what is correct. Name the country in the question. Avoid family arguments about the right pudding. For the tiebreaker use the year the first commercial Christmas card appeared.
Frequently asked questions
Are these questions religious?
Only in part. A few cover the Nativity story and the church calendar because they are unavoidable in a Christmas round, but most concern customs, history, food, music and film. No answer requires belief, only knowledge.
Will this work for a family game with children?
Yes. The fourteen easy questions are pitched so that a child who watches Christmas films and opens an Advent calendar can score well. Save the hard round for the adults after dinner.
Why do so many Christmas traditions come from different countries?
Because the holiday absorbed local midwinter customs wherever it spread rather than replacing them. That is why the tree, the gift-bringer, the feast date and the decorations all have separate and often much older origins.
Not in a quiz mood?
The question games are a different kind of round: no right answers, just prompts you read out and argue about. Would You RatherNever Have I EverTruth or DareThis or That