This is a list of Christmas and winter gift-bringer figures from around the world.
The history of mythical or folkloric gift-bringing figures who appear in winter, often at or around the Christmas period, is complex, and in many countries the gift-bringer – and the gift-bringer's date of arrival – has changed over time as native customs have been influenced by those in other countries. While many though not all gift-bringers originated as religious figures, gift-bringing is often now a non-religious custom and secular figures exist in many countries that have little or no tradition of celebrating Christmas as a religious festival. Some figures are entirely local, and some have been deliberately and more recently invented.
The main originating strands – all of which have their roots in Europe – are the overlapping winter-based and religious Old Man traditions (Saint Nicholas, Santa Claus, Father Christmas, Saint Basil, Grandfather Frost), the Christ Child traditions promoted by Martin Luther (Christkind, Baby Jesus, Child God), and the Three Kings traditions. Not all gift-bringers were or are specifically focused on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day: other common customs are 6 December (Saint Nicholas), 1 January, New Year (St Basil, or secular), and 6 January, Epiphany (Three Kings).
The international popularity of the figure of Santa Claus has transformed the older traditions of many countries.
List of gift-bringers
NationOld manChildOtherNotes (Grandfather Christmas, Old Man of Christmas), (Grandfather Frost) (Father Christmas) (Child God) (The Three Wise Men)Santa Claus; (in Gamilaraay) Wangkarnal Crow (in Warmun, Western Australia) or Christkind (Christ Child) (Christmas Man) and for Dutch speakers; (Father Christmas) and for French speakersLe Petit Jesus (Baby Jesus) for French speakers, (Good Little Oldie). Santa Claus, (Father Christmas) for French speakersViejito Pascuero ("Little Easter Old Man")The name comes from Pascua (Easter) being used in Chile to refer to multiple religious holidays, Christmas included.Shengdan laoren (Traditional Chinese: , Simplified Chinese: , Cantonese: , pinyin: shèngdànlǎorén (Old Man Christmas) (Father Christmas) (Child God), (Child Jesus) (Santa Claus), (Saint Nicholas) or his nickname Colacho. (Child God) (Grandfather Christmas), (Saint Nicholas) 6 December (Baby Jesus)In Dalmatia and Slavonia, arrives on the eve of her feast day, 13 December.Angel and devil accompanying (St Nicholas) 6 December (Baby Jesus) (Christmas Man) (Father Christmas), (Santa Claus) (The Three Kings), (Old Lady of Bethlehem) (Father Christmas) (Child God)The Three KingsFather Christmas or synonymously Santa ClausBefore mid-Victorian times Father Christmas was a different folkloric figure representing good cheer, and did not bring gifts. (Yule Goat) - (Father Christmas)
- (Saint Nicholas) in Alsace, Lorraine, the Ardennes, Franche-Comté and the Low Countries, 6 December
- in the Basque Country
- in Alsace, Franconian Lorraine and Maritime Flanders, 10 or 11 November
- (Father January) in Burgundy, Nivernais and Bourbonnais, 31 December - 1 January
- Saint Vincent in the Langres plateau - (Child Jesus)
- (Christkind) in Alsace and Franconian Lorraine, 6 December - (Aunt Arie, a fairy) in the County of Montbéliard
- (The Three Kings) in Roussillon
- in Alsace - , 10 November in Protestant areas, 11 November in Catholic areas
- , 6 December
- (Christmas Man), 24 December in Protestant areas (Christ Child), 24 December in Catholic areas is accompanied by Knecht Ruprecht, Krampus, Belsnickel or other servants in some regions of Germany. (Saint Basil the Great)Santa ClausThe Three Kings (Father Christmas); (Nicholas) or (Child Jesus)Angels accompanying the baby JesusMikulás is accompanied by krampusz, generally bringing virgács (rod for whipping) to children who did not behave well (Yulemen or Yule Lads)In Icelandic folk tales there are numerous Jólasveinar, which come on different dates. - English: Santa Claus, Father Christmas
- Hindi: (saanta kloz), (saint nikolas)
- Other languages: Several namesSanta Claus, Baba Noel (Persian: ); Amu Nowruz (Persian: , "Uncle Nowruz")Santa Claus, Father Christmas, for Irish speakers (Father Christmas) (Baby Jesus) 6 January. In Sicily, Udine, Bergamo, Brescia, Cremona, Lodi, Mantova, Piacenza, Parma, Reggio Emilia, Verona and Western Trentino, Saint Lucy arrives on the eve of her feast day, 13 December. or On 2 Jan the Seven Lucky Gods bring metaphorical treasures in their treasure ship Takarabune (Father Christmas) (Baba Noel), (Grandfather Christmas) (Saint Nicholas) (Christ Child)Father Christmas ( in Maltese)Santa Claus (Child God) (The Three Kings) (Christmas Man), (Saint Nicholas)Zwarte Piet (Black Peter), accompanies Santa Claus, (in Māori) (The Child)The Three Kings (Santa Claus)Santa ClausChrist ChildThe Three Kings 6 January (Father Christmas), Santa ClausSanta Claus, (in Tagalog), (The Three Kings), 5 January (Star Man or Little Star), Santa Claus, (Saint Nicolas) 6 December (Christ Child) in Upper Silesia (Angel) 24 December in Kraków (Father Christmas), Santa Claus (Christ Child) (Santa Claus) (The Three Kings) (Old Man Christmas, Christmas Old Man, Grandfather Christmas, Christmas Grandfather), (Saint Nicholas) or (Child Jesus) (for the Hungarian minorities) (The Angel) (for the Hungarian minorities) (Grandfather Frost, Old Man Frost) during the previous Communist era (Ded Moroz) (Grandfather Frost)Snegurochka (the Snow Maiden and granddaughter of Ded Moroz) and the New Year Boy Before 1917, during the pre-Communist era, the gift-bringers were Saint Nicholas, Baboushka and KolyádaAngel and Devil accompanying (Saint Nicholas) 6 December (Baby Jesus) (Saint Nicholas), (Grandpa Frost), (Santa Claus) (Baby Jesus) (The Three Kings) - In English: Santa Claus Father Christmas, Santa Claus - or (Father Christmas); or in Catalonia
- in the Basque Country and Navarre
- in Galicia
- in AsturiasAnguleru
- in Cantabria. - The Three Kings 6 January
- in Catalonia
- in Cantabria
- , a recent female companion for Olentzero in the Basque Country and Navarre. (Christmas Gnome) (Christmas Goat) until the 19th centurySt Nicholas (known as to German-speakers and to Italian), (Father Christmas) for French-speakers (Christ Child) in some areas, (Baby Jesus) in Italian-speaking areas in Italian-speaking areas (Father Christmas) (Child God)Los Reyes Magos on 6 JanuarySanta Claus; sometimes Kris Kringle; (in Cherokee); (in Hawaiian); (Saint Nicholas)Why Christmas "Christmas in Venezuela". Retrieved on 31 Oct 2022. (The Child) (The Three Wise Men)Father Christmas, Santa Claus; in Welsh (literally Chimney John)
See also
Christmas traditions Santa Claus
References
Notes
Bibliography