Think this is the most wonderful time of the year? We're about to make it even better with these Christmas trivia questions!
Just how much do you know about Christmas—really? Sure, you know all the names of Santa’s reindeer, your fair share of Christmas carols and very possibly every line of Christmas Vacation. But that’s just the tip of a North Pole iceberg. We’re about to put your knowledge to the test with these tricky Christmas trivia questions.
It’s the perfect way to keep yourself and the entire family entertained all season long, and hey, you may even start a new family tradition that involves a little friendly competition! So gather around the Christmas tree, pour a cup of eggnog and see how many questions you—and the kids!—can answer about these Christmas facts, movies, songs and more. Think of it as our gift to you. (You’re welcome!)
Get Reader’s Digest’s Read Up newsletter for more holidays, humor, cleaning, travel, tech and fun facts all week long.
Fun Christmas trivia questions
1. Question: What English monarch is often credited with introducing turkey as part of the Christmas menu?
Answer: Henry VIII
2. Question: Which three reindeer have a name starting with D?
Answer: Dasher, Dancer and Donder (referred to as Donner in the song “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer”)
3. Question: What do many people in Japan eat for their Christmas meal?
Answer: Kentucky Fried Chicken
4. Question: Which U.S. state has a town named Santa Claus?
Answer: Indiana
5. Question: Which country started the practice of putting up a Christmas tree?
Answer: Germany
6. Question: What were the first artificial Christmas trees made of?
Answer: Goose feathers
7. Question: What do Swedish people traditionally do on Christmas Eve at 3 p.m.?
Answer: They gather in front of the TV and watch the annual Donald Duck and His Friends Wish You a Merry Christmas show (Kalle Anka och hans vänner önskar God Jul in Swedish), a special that features clips of old Disney cartoons.
8. Question: When is National Ugly Christmas Sweater Day?
Answer: The third Friday of December
9. Question: In New Zealand, Christmas occurs during what season?
Answer: Since New Zealand is located in the Southern Hemisphere, Dec. 25 occurs during the summer.
10. Question: What is Santa’s mailing address?
Answer: 123 Elf Road, North Pole, 88888, according to the U.S. Postal Service
Tricky Christmas trivia for adults
11. Question: What year was the first commercial Christmas card sent?
Answer: 1843
12. Question: How many Christmas cards are sent in the U.S. every year?
Answer: About 1.3 billion, according to Hallmark
13. Question: Which company started to feature the modern-looking Santa in its ads in the 1930s?
Answer: Coca-Cola
14. Question: Which U.S. president signed a bill into law making Christmas a federal holiday?
Answer: Ulysses S. Grant in 1870
15. Question: Which department store introduced Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer in its marketing campaign?
Answer: Montgomery Ward in 1939
16. Question: The U.S. Postal Service issued its first Christmas stamp in what year?
Answer: 1962
17. Question: How long does it take for the average Christmas tree to grow to its full size?
Answer: Seven years for a typical 6- to 7-foot tree
18. Question: In which ocean is Christmas Island located?
Answer: The Indian Ocean
19. Question: Which religious group banned Christmas in Boston from 1659 to 1681?
Answer: The Puritans, who regarded it as a pagan holiday
20. Question: In O. Henry’s short story “The Gift of the Magi,” what do the husband and wife each sell to buy the other a Christmas present?
Answer: She sells her hair, and he sells his pocket watch.
Christmas trivia for kids
21. Question: What is Frosty the Snowman’s pipe made of?
Answer: A corncob
22. Question: Which fruit used to be a popular stocking stuffer?
Answer: An orange
23. Question: Which Christmas decoration was once made of real silver?
Answer: Tinsel
24. Question: Where can you find the famous Christmas tree in New York during the holiday season?
Answer: Rockefeller Center
25. Question: Before electric Christmas lights were invented, what did people use to light up their trees?
Answer: Candles
26. Question: In Charles Dickens’s classic book A Christmas Carol, what is Scrooge’s first name?
Answer: Ebenezer
27. Question: The events in which famous ballet take place on Christmas Eve?
Answer: The Nutcracker
28. Question: What type of calendar is used to count down to the days leading to Christmas?
Answer: An Advent calendar
29. Question: What was George Washington doing on Dec. 25, 1776?
Answer: Crossing the Delaware
30. Question: Which Brothers Grimm fairy tale helped popularize gingerbread houses?
Answer: “Hansel and Gretel”
31. Question: What three gifts did the wise men give the baby Jesus?
Answer: Gold, frankincense and myrrh
32. Question: What does Noel mean?
Answer: Christmas
33. Question: During the Christmas season, how many Lego sets are sold every second?
Answer: 28
Christmas movie trivia
34. Question: Which actor won an Oscar for playing Santa Claus?
Answer: Edmund Gwenn, for playing Kris Kringle in 1947’s Miracle on 34th Street
35. Question: In It’s a Wonderful Life, what happens every time a bell rings?
Answer: An angel gets his wings
36. Question: How many lights did Clark Griswold use to light up his house in National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation?
Answer: 25,000
37. Question: What is the profession of Billy Bob Thornton’s character, Willie, in Bad Santa?
Answer: A thief and a department store Santa
38. Question: In How the Grinch Stole Christmas, the Grinch wants to ruin Christmas for the citizens of what town?
Answer: Whoville
39. Question: Who plays the prime minister in Love Actually?
Answer: Hugh Grant
40. Question: What 1988 action movie takes place on Christmas Eve?
Answer: Die Hard
41. Question: What is it about Christmas that upsets Charlie Brown in A Charlie Brown Christmas?
Answer: The commercialization of Christmas
42. Question: What time period does A Christmas Story take place in?
Answer: The 1940s
43. Question: How did Buddy in Elf get his name?
Answer: The elves named him after the brand name on his disposable diaper: Little Buddy Diapers.
44. Question: What’s the title of the gangster movie Kevin watches in Home Alone?
Answer: Angels with Filthy Souls
45. Question: Bing Crosby sang “White Christmas” in which two movies?
Answer: Holiday Inn (1942) and White Christmas (1954)
46. Question: Why do Amanda and Iris decide to swap homes in The Holiday?
Answer: Bad breakups with their boyfriends
47. Question: In Home Alone (1990), where are the McCallisters going on vacation when they leave Kevin behind?
Answer: Paris
48. Question: In Elf (2003), what is the first rule of The Code of Elves?
Answer: Treat every day like Christmas
49. Question: In It’s a Wonderful Life (1946), what happens every time a bell rings?
Answer: An angel gets its wings
50. Question: In The Polar Express (2004), what is the first gift of Christmas?
Answer: A silver bell from Santa’s sleigh
51. Question: In How the Grinch Stole Christmas (2000), what is the Grinch’s dog’s name?
Answer: Max
52. Question: In The Santa Clause (1994), what is Scott Calvin’s job before he becomes Santa?
Answer: A toy company executive
53. Question: In A Christmas Story (1983), what gift does Ralphie desperately want?
Answer: A Red Ryder BB gun
Christmas song trivia
54. Question: In the song “Frosty the Snowman”, what made Frosty come to life?
Answer: An old silk hat
55. Question: In “The Twelve Days of Christmas”, how many total gifts are given?
Answer: 364
56. Question: Who originally recorded “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree” in 1958?
Answer: Brenda Lee
57. Question: In “You’re a Mean One, Mr. Grinch”, what is the Grinch described as having in his smile?
Answer: Termites in his teeth
58. Question: What Christmas song holds the record as the best-selling single of all time?
Answer: White Christmas by Bing Crosby
59. Question: In “Jingle Bells”, what kind of horse is pulling the sleigh?
Answer: A one-horse open sleigh (specifically, a one-horse named “Bobtail”)
60. Question: In “Santa Claus Is Coming to Town”, what two things does Santa do to find out if you’ve been naughty or nice?
Answer: He’s making a list and checking it twice
61. Question: What is the opening line of “It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas”?
Answer: “It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas, everywhere you go”
62. Question: What is the bestselling Christmas song of all time?
Answer: “White Christmas,” sung by Bing Crosby
63. Question: What do the other reindeer never let Rudolph do in the “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer” song?
Answer: Play in any reindeer games
64. Question: What Christmas song was written during the Cuban Missile Crisis to promote peace?
Answer: “Do You Hear What I Hear?”
65. Question: What holiday song was the first one played in space?
Answer: “Jingle Bells,” in 1965
66. Question: Who sang the original version of “Santa Baby”?
Answer: Eartha Kitt
67. Question: What type of Christmas does Elvis have if it’s not a white one?
Answer: A “Blue Christmas”
68. Question: In “The 12 Days of Christmas,” what is given on the sixth day?
Answer: Six geese a-laying
69. Question: Which pop duo released the song “Last Christmas” in 1984?
Answer: Wham!
70. Question: What’s the name of the Christmas song Judy Garland first introduced in the 1944 film Meet Me in St. Louis?
Answer: “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas”
71. Question: In “The Christmas Song,” also known as “Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire,” whose eyes are all aglow?
Answer: Tiny tots
72. Question: Which Christmas single by a female artist is the bestselling of all time?
Answer: “All I Want for Christmas” by Mariah Carey
73. Question: What 1984 Christmas song raised tens of millions of dollars for Ethiopian famine relief?
Answer: “Do They Know It’s Christmas?” by Band Aid
74. Question: Which Christmas song do the Plastics sing at the winter talent show in Mean Girls?
Answer: “Jingle Bell Rock”
75. Question: Which singer joined Bing Crosby in performing “The Little Drummer Boy/Peace on Earth” in a 1977 Christmas special?
Answer: David Bowie
Why trust us
Reader’s Digest is known for our humor and brain games, including quizzes, puzzles, riddles, word games, trivia, math, pattern and logic puzzles, guessing games, crosswords, rebus, hidden objects and spot-the-difference challenges. We’ve earned prestigious ASME awards for our entertainment content and have produced dozens of brainteaser books, including Word Searches, Word Power, Use Your Words, Fun Puzzles and Brain Ticklers, Mind Stretchers, Ultimate Christmas Puzzles and more. Our 10 published volumes of Mind Stretchers were edited by Allen D. Bragdon, founder of The Brainwaves Center and editor of Games magazine. Read more about our team, our contributors and our editorial policies.
