Quick answer: 100 Christmas trivia questions with answers, in seven rounds that run from easy questions for kids to a hard round for adults, with Christmas songs, films, history, food and Christmas around the world in between. Every answer comes with the reason, because the reason is usually the better story.
Most Christmas quizzes reuse the same dozen questions about reindeer names. These go further. Each round moves from easy to hard, so you can stop whenever your table starts to groan, and the answers are short enough to read aloud.
Use them for a family quiz after dinner, a Christmas party, a classroom, or a December round at a pub quiz. For the other eleven months there are trivia questions by category, easy trivia questions for mixed ages, and hard trivia questions for people who win too often.
Prefer to play rather than read? The interactive version below draws twenty questions from a bank of sixty, tells you which round you were weakest in, and explains every answer as you go. It lives on our Christmas 2026 page, together with a live countdown to Christmas Day.
How to run it: pick two or three rounds rather than all seven. Round one works for any age. Rounds two and three are the crowd-pleasers. Round seven is for the people who have been winning all evening.
Round one: easy Christmas trivia for kids
Start here with a mixed-age table. Children usually win this round, which is the point.
1. How many reindeer pull Santa's sleigh, if you count Rudolph?
Nine. The 1823 poem that named the team listed eight. Rudolph arrived 116 years later, in 1939.
2. Which reindeer has a red nose?
Rudolph. He was invented in 1939 by Robert L. May, a copywriter at the Montgomery Ward department store, for a free colouring booklet.
3. What brings Frosty the Snowman to life?
An old silk hat. When the children put it on his head, he begins to dance around.
4. What is the name of the Grinch's dog?
Max, who is forced to wear a single antler and pull the sleigh.
5. On which mountain does the Grinch live?
Mount Crumpit, high above Whoville.
6. What is the name of the snowman in Frozen?
Olaf, who likes warm hugs.
7. In the song, what does my true love give me on the first day of Christmas?
A partridge in a pear tree.
8. What do children in Britain call Santa Claus?
Father Christmas. He was a separate English figure until the two merged in the late 1800s.
9. What do American children usually leave out for Santa?
Milk and cookies. In Britain it is more often a mince pie, a glass of sherry, and a carrot for the reindeer.
10. In the 1964 TV special Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, which elf wants to be a dentist?
Hermey. His boss is not impressed.
11. Which country sends London a giant Christmas tree for Trafalgar Square every year?
Norway. The city of Oslo has sent one every year since 1947, as thanks for Britain's help during the Second World War.
12. How many points does a snowflake have?
Six. Water molecules freeze into a hexagonal pattern, so every natural snowflake has sixfold symmetry, however different the details.
13. Which plant are you supposed to kiss under?
Mistletoe. It is a parasite that grows on trees, which is less romantic than the tradition suggests.
14. In How the Grinch Stole Christmas, how many sizes does the Grinch's heart grow?
Three sizes, on the day he hears the Whos singing without any presents.
15. Where does Santa Claus live?
The North Pole. The cartoonist Thomas Nast put him there in the 1860s, and it stuck.
Round two: Christmas song trivia
Christmas music is a small world with enormous numbers. These work well read aloud with the first line of the song as a hint.
16. What is the best-selling single of all time?
White Christmas, sung by Bing Crosby. Guinness World Records puts it at an estimated 50 million copies.
17. Who wrote White Christmas?
Irving Berlin. It was first heard in the 1942 film Holiday Inn.
18. Under what title was Jingle Bells first published in 1857?
One Horse Open Sleigh. Its composer, James Lord Pierpont, was the uncle of the banker J. P. Morgan.
19. What was the first song ever played in space?
Jingle Bells. On 16 December 1965 the Gemini 6 astronauts Wally Schirra and Tom Stafford played it on a smuggled harmonica and a handful of small bells.
20. In what language was Silent Night first written?
German. Stille Nacht was first performed on Christmas Eve 1818 in Oberndorf, near Salzburg, with words by Joseph Mohr and music by Franz Xaver Gruber.
21. In what year was All I Want for Christmas Is You released?
1994. It first reached number one on the US Billboard Hot 100 in December 2019, twenty-five years later.
22. Which charity single kept Wham!'s Last Christmas off the UK number one spot in 1984?
Do They Know It's Christmas? by Band Aid. Last Christmas finally reached number one on 1 January 2021, thirty-six years after its release.
23. Which band sang Fairytale of New York with Kirsty MacColl?
The Pogues, in 1987.
24. How old was Brenda Lee when she recorded Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree?
Thirteen. She recorded it in 1958, and it became a hit only two years later.
25. Which song begins "Chestnuts roasting on an open fire"?
The Christmas Song, by Mel Tormé and Bob Wells. Nat King Cole made it famous. The story goes that it was written in the summer heat of 1945, as a way to think cool thoughts.
26. Who wrote and sang Feliz Navidad?
José Feliciano, in 1970. The whole lyric is two lines, one in Spanish and one in English.
27. Carol of the Bells is based on a folk chant from which country?
Ukraine. Mykola Leontovych arranged it as Shchedryk, which is a New Year song about a swallow, not a Christmas song about bells.
28. In The Twelve Days of Christmas, how many lords are a-leaping?
Ten. Nine ladies are dancing, eleven pipers are piping and twelve drummers are drumming.
29. Add up every gift in every verse of The Twelve Days of Christmas. How many are there?
364. One partridge in twelve verses, two doves in eleven, and so on. That is one gift for almost every day of the year.
30. Who wrote the song Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, and how was he related to Rudolph's creator?
Johnny Marks, the brother-in-law of Robert L. May. Gene Autry's 1949 recording made it one of the best-selling songs of its time.
31. The tune of Deck the Halls comes from which country?
Wales. It is an old Welsh melody, Nos Galan, originally sung on New Year's Eve.
32. In We Wish You a Merry Christmas, which dessert do the singers refuse to leave without?
Figgy pudding. "We won't go until we get some."
Round three: Christmas movie trivia
Ten film questions for the round everyone thinks they will win.
33. In Home Alone, to which city are the McCallisters flying when they leave Kevin behind?
Paris. In Home Alone 2 he boards the wrong plane and ends up in New York, at the Plaza Hotel.
34. What do the Home Alone burglars call themselves?
The Wet Bandits, because Marv floods every house they rob. His partner is Harry.
35. In It's a Wonderful Life, what happens every time a bell rings?
An angel gets his wings. The angel in question is Clarence, who is still waiting for his.
36. What are the four main food groups of elves, according to Buddy in Elf?
Candy, candy canes, candy corn and syrup.
37. In which building does Die Hard take place?
Nakatomi Plaza. The building used for filming was Fox Plaza in Los Angeles, then the brand-new headquarters of 20th Century Fox, the studio that made the film.
38. What does Ralphie want for Christmas in A Christmas Story?
A Red Ryder BB gun. Every adult he tells says the same thing: you'll shoot your eye out.
39. In National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation, what is Clark Griswold's Christmas bonus?
A one-year membership in the Jelly of the Month Club.
40. Who plays Ebenezer Scrooge in The Muppet Christmas Carol?
Michael Caine. Gonzo plays Charles Dickens, the narrator.
41. Who directed The Nightmare Before Christmas?
Henry Selick. Tim Burton created the story and produced it, which is why most people get this wrong.
42. In Miracle on 34th Street, which department store hires Kris Kringle?
Macy's. Edmund Gwenn won an Oscar for playing him in the 1947 film.
43. Who plays the Grinch in the 2000 live-action film?
Jim Carrey, under make-up that took hours to apply every day.
44. In Love Actually, what job does Hugh Grant's character have?
Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. He dances to the Pointer Sisters in Downing Street.
45. What are the three rules for looking after a mogwai in Gremlins?
No bright light, no water, and never feed it after midnight.
Round four: Christmas history
Where the traditions actually came from. Several of these surprise people who think they know.
46. What is the earliest known record of Christmas being celebrated on 25 December?
Rome, in the year 336. It appears in a Roman calendar known as the Chronograph of 354.
47. Who banned Christmas in England in 1647?
The Puritan-controlled Parliament. Oliver Cromwell usually gets the blame, but the ban came from Parliament, and it lasted until the Restoration in 1660.
48. In colonial Massachusetts, what happened if you were caught celebrating Christmas between 1659 and 1681?
You were fined five shillings.
49. Where does the X in Xmas come from?
The Greek letter chi, X, the first letter of Christos. It is an old Christian abbreviation, not a modern way of taking Christ out of Christmas.
50. Who sent the first commercial Christmas card?
Sir Henry Cole, in London in 1843. The card was illustrated by John Callcott Horsley.
51. In which year was A Christmas Carol published?
1843, on 19 December. Charles Dickens's first print run of 6,000 copies sold out by Christmas Eve.
52. What is the name of Scrooge's dead business partner?
Jacob Marley, who arrives in chains.
53. An 1848 picture of which royal couple around a decorated tree made Christmas trees fashionable in Britain?
Queen Victoria and Prince Albert. Albert brought the custom from Germany, and the picture ran in the Illustrated London News.
54. Who put the first electric lights on a Christmas tree?
Edward H. Johnson, a business partner of Thomas Edison, in New York in 1882. He used eighty hand-wired red, white and blue bulbs.
55. In which modern country did the real Saint Nicholas live?
Turkey. He was a fourth-century bishop of Myra, a town now called Demre, on the southern coast.
56. The name Santa Claus comes from which language?
Dutch. Sinterklaas travelled to New York with Dutch settlers.
57. Was the red Santa invented by Coca-Cola?
No. Santa was drawn in red long before Haddon Sundblom's Coca-Cola adverts of 1931, including on magazine covers in the early 1900s. Coca-Cola fixed the image. It did not invent it.
58. What is Boxing Day, and when is it?
26 December, a holiday in Britain and much of the Commonwealth. It is usually traced to the Christmas boxes of money or gifts once given to servants and tradespeople the day after Christmas.
59. In which year did Christmas become a federal holiday in the United States?
1870, when Ulysses S. Grant signed the bill.
60. During which war did British and German soldiers declare an unofficial Christmas truce?
The First World War, in 1914. In some places along the front, soldiers met in no man's land to swap food and cigarettes, and some played football.
61. Which US agency tracks Santa every Christmas Eve, and why?
NORAD. In 1955 a misprinted newspaper advert gave children a phone number that rang at the military air defence centre. Colonel Harry Shoup told his staff to give the callers Santa's position, and the tradition never stopped.
Round five: Christmas around the world
Every country thinks its own Christmas is the normal one.
62. In Japan, which fast food chain is famous for Christmas dinner?
KFC. A 1974 advertising campaign, Kentucky for Christmas, made fried chicken the Christmas meal, and families order it weeks ahead.
63. Which horned figure punishes naughty children in Austria and Bavaria?
Krampus. He walks the streets on 5 December, the night before Saint Nicholas's day.
64. In Italy, who brings children presents on 6 January?
La Befana, a kind old witch on a broomstick.
65. In Catalonia, what do children beat with sticks until it "poops" presents?
The Tió de Nadal, a smiling log wrapped in a blanket and fed every night in the run-up to Christmas.
66. How many Yule Lads visit Icelandic children before Christmas?
Thirteen, one per night. They have names like Spoon-Licker, Door-Slammer and Sausage-Swiper.
67. What is Iceland's Christmas Book Flood?
Jólabókaflóð: most new books are published in the autumn, given on Christmas Eve, and read that night.
68. What does much of Sweden watch at 3 p.m. on Christmas Eve?
Donald Duck. A Disney special called From All of Us to All of You has aired at that time on Swedish TV since 1960.
69. In much of southern Germany and Austria, who brings the presents?
The Christkind, a golden-haired, angel-like child, on Christmas Eve. Further north, the Weihnachtsmann does the job.
70. On which day do Ethiopian and Russian Orthodox Christians celebrate Christmas?
7 January. Their churches still use the Julian calendar for feasts.
71. In the Netherlands, how does Sinterklaas arrive every November?
By steamboat, supposedly from Spain. The big present night is 5 December, not Christmas.
72. In Mexico, what are Las Posadas?
Nine nights of processions from 16 to 24 December, re-enacting Mary and Joseph's search for a place to stay.
73. In the Philippines, when does the Christmas season begin?
In September. The "ber months" start the season, and it runs into January, one of the longest Christmas seasons anywhere. Its symbol is the parol, a star-shaped lantern.
74. In a Polish Christmas Eve dinner, why is there an extra place at the table?
For an unexpected guest, or a traveller. The meal, called Wigilia, traditionally begins when the first star appears.
Round six: Christmas food and drink
A short round for the part of Christmas most people actually care about.
75. How many plums are in a traditional plum pudding?
None. In old English, plums meant raisins and other dried fruit.
76. What did mince pies originally contain?
Meat. Early mince pies were filled with minced mutton or beef, dried fruit and spices. Most today keep only the suet, if that.
77. Which German city is famous for Christmas Stollen?
Dresden. Its Striezelmarkt, one of Germany's oldest Christmas markets, is named after the bread.
78. Panettone comes from which Italian city?
Milan.
79. What bird does Scrooge send to the Cratchit family on Christmas morning?
The prize turkey from the poulterer's window, as big as the boy who fetches it. The Cratchits had been planning a goose.
80. What is a bûche de Noël?
A French Christmas cake shaped like a log. The real Yule log it copies was burned in the fireplace.
81. What does the old toast wassail mean?
Be well, or be in good health. It comes from the Old English and Norse greeting waes hael.
82. In a German Feuerzangenbowle, what is set on fire?
A cone of sugar soaked in rum, which drips into a bowl of mulled wine as it burns.
83. Which German city is most famous for Lebkuchen, a soft Christmas gingerbread?
Nuremberg. Nürnberger Lebkuchen is a protected name, like Champagne.
84. What are the main ingredients of eggnog?
Milk or cream, sugar and eggs, usually with a spirit such as rum, brandy or bourbon.
85. Which fairy tale made gingerbread houses popular in Germany?
Hansel and Gretel, published by the Brothers Grimm in 1812.
Round seven: hard Christmas trivia for adults
The final round, for the people who have been getting everything right.
86. Die Hard is based on a novel. What is it called?
Nothing Lasts Forever, by Roderick Thorp, published in 1979.
87. Was It's a Wonderful Life a hit when it came out in 1946?
No, it lost money. It became a Christmas classic after its copyright lapsed in 1974 and TV stations could show it for free, over and over.
88. What was Dr. Seuss's real name?
Theodor Seuss Geisel. Seuss was his mother's maiden name.
89. The poinsettia is named after whom?
Joel Roberts Poinsett, the first US minister to Mexico, who brought the plant home in the 1820s. And no, it is not deadly to pets or children. At worst it upsets a stomach.
90. Which US state was the first to make Christmas a legal holiday?
Alabama, in 1836.
91. Including Marley, how many ghosts visit Scrooge?
Four. Marley, then the Ghosts of Christmas Past, Present and Yet to Come.
92. The Twelve Days of Christmas run from which day to which?
From Christmas Day to 5 January, the eve of Epiphany. That evening is Twelfth Night.
93. On which feast does Good King Wenceslas look out?
The Feast of Stephen, 26 December. The real Wenceslas was a tenth-century Duke of Bohemia, not a king.
94. Which composer wrote The Nutcracker, and where did it premiere?
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky. It premiered in Saint Petersburg in 1892 to mixed reviews.
95. In which German town were glass Christmas baubles first made?
Lauscha, in Thuringia, in the 1840s. Local glassblowers began making glass fruit and nuts for trees when real ones were too expensive.
96. What was tinsel originally made of?
Real silver, hammered into thin strips in seventeenth-century Germany. It shone beautifully until it tarnished.
97. Where does the word Noël come from?
The Latin natalis, meaning birth.
98. Who is usually credited with writing 'Twas the Night Before Christmas?
Clement Clarke Moore, although it was published anonymously in 1823, and the family of Henry Livingston Jr. has claimed for over a century that he wrote it.
99. Which actor made his feature film debut as Hans Gruber in Die Hard?
Alan Rickman, already in his forties and best known until then as a stage actor.
100. What gift does Santa give to the boy in The Polar Express, and why is it special?
A silver bell from one of the reindeer's harnesses. Only people who still believe can hear it ring.
How to host a Christmas quiz that people enjoy
Keep rounds short, around ten questions, and read each one twice. Let teams mix ages, because children beat adults on the first round and adults win the history round, so nobody is left out for long. Read the explanations as you go through the answers; that is the part people remember and repeat at the next party.
More for the same evening: Christmas movie trivia for a full film round, Christmas riddles for the children's table, Christmas party games for when the quiz is over, and the Christmas facts that hold up, from the real reason for 25 December to the X in Xmas.
If you like the format, the movie trivia questions and music trivia questions make good extra rounds. And if you are the one who knows every answer until someone asks you, that is a real, well-studied effect: why you blank at quiz night.
Frequently Asked Questions
What are good Christmas trivia questions for adults?
Questions with a twist people think they already know. It's a Wonderful Life lost money in 1946 and only became a classic after its copyright lapsed in 1974. Die Hard is based on a 1979 novel called Nothing Lasts Forever. The Puritan Parliament, not Oliver Cromwell alone, banned Christmas in England in 1647. And the poinsettia is not deadly to pets.
What are easy Christmas trivia questions for kids?
Good ones: How many reindeer pull Santa's sleigh if you count Rudolph? (Nine.) What brings Frosty the Snowman to life? (An old silk hat.) What is the Grinch's dog called? (Max.) How many points does a snowflake have? (Six.) Which country sends London a Christmas tree every year? (Norway.)
How many gifts are given in The Twelve Days of Christmas?
364, if you add up every gift in every verse. On the twelfth day alone, the singer receives 78 gifts.
What is the best-selling Christmas song of all time?
White Christmas by Bing Crosby, written by Irving Berlin. Guinness World Records estimates it has sold 50 million copies, which also makes it the best-selling single of any kind.
What was the first song played in space?
Jingle Bells. On 16 December 1965 the Gemini 6 astronauts Wally Schirra and Tom Stafford played it on a harmonica and small bells they had smuggled aboard.
How many questions should a Christmas quiz have?
Around thirty to forty for an evening: three or four rounds of ten. That leaves time to read the answers and argue about them, which is half the fun.
Every NerdSip course clears a four-layer fact-checking pipeline before it reaches the app: grounded in live sources, scored nightly, gated on failure, and reviewable by a person at one tap. Articles on this blog are drafted with AI assistance, then researched, verified, and edited by our team.
Editorial responsibility: ai51 UG (haftungsbeschränkt). Responsible editor named in the imprint.
📚 Keep Learning
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- 57 Christmas Riddles With Answers (for Kids and Adults)
- 50 Christmas Facts That Survive a Fact-Check
- 30 Christmas Party Games for Adults (and Everyone Else)
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