100 Christmas Trivia Questions and Answers for Work and Parties (2026)

Here are 100 Christmas trivia questions and answers for 2026, grouped into nine rounds: easy, medium and hard Christmas trivia, then Christmas movies, Christmas music, traditions around the world, Santa and his reindeer, Christmas food and drink, and a final round of fun Christmas facts. Answers sit right under each question, so you can run a game at the office party, a family get-together or a Zoom call straight from this page. Christmas Day falls on a Friday, December 25, 2026.

Trivia is one of the easiest ways to open an office holiday party: no setup, and everyone can play. Want a version without the answers showing? Get the printable Christmas trivia pack, with a separate answer key, by email.

How to use these questions

• Office party icebreaker (15 minutes): read round 1 and round 4 out loud and let people shout answers.
• Full Christmas trivia night (about 60 minutes): teams of 4–6, six rounds, one point per answer and two for the hard round.
• Families with kids: rounds 1, 4, 7 and 8.
• Competitive adults: rounds 3, 6 and 9.

Playing with younger kids? Try our 60 Christmas trivia questions for kids. Movie fans can go deeper with 50 Christmas movie trivia questions, and mixed or multi-faith offices may prefer our December trivia questions.

Jump to a round

• Round 1: Easy Christmas trivia (12 questions)
• Round 2: Medium Christmas trivia (11 questions)
• Round 3: Hard Christmas trivia (11 questions)
• Round 4: Christmas movie trivia (16 questions)
• Round 5: Christmas music trivia (11 questions)
• Round 6: Christmas traditions around the world (14 questions)
• Round 7: Santa Claus and his reindeer (10 questions)
• Round 8: Christmas food and drink trivia (10 questions)
• Round 9: Fun Christmas facts (5 questions)

Round 1: Easy Christmas trivia

Questions nearly everyone can answer, which makes them perfect for breaking the ice.

1. What fruit is traditionally placed in the toe of a Christmas stocking?
   Answer: An orange.

2. How do you say "Merry Christmas" in Spanish?
   Answer: Feliz Navidad.

3. What was Frosty the Snowman's nose made of?
   Answer: A button.

4. Who wrote A Christmas Carol?
   Answer: Charles Dickens, in 1843. The main character of the novella is the miser Ebenezer Scrooge.

5. What drink is made with milk, cream, sugar, whipped eggs and sometimes rum or bourbon?
   Answer: Eggnog.

6. What is another name for Santa Claus?
   Answer: Kris Kringle (or Father Christmas, Saint Nick).

7. What snack do children leave out for Santa with a glass of milk?
   Answer: Cookies.

8. What usually goes on top of a Christmas tree?
   Answer: A star or an angel.

9. What are the traditional colors of Christmas?
   Answer: Red and green.

10. What was the midwinter festival called in Northern Europe before Christmas took its place?
    Answer: Yule.

11. Under which plant are people supposed to kiss at Christmas?
    Answer: Mistletoe.

12. Which Christmas decoration was first made from real strands of silver?
    Answer: Tinsel.

Round 2: Medium Christmas trivia

Carols, calendars and the Twelve Days. You will need to think for a second.

13. Complete the carol line: "Silent night, holy night…"
    Answer: "All is calm, all is bright."

14. Which country started the tradition of the decorated Christmas tree, in the 16th century?
    Answer: Germany.

15. What kind of calendar counts down the days to Christmas?
    Answer: An Advent calendar.

16. Including Jacob Marley, how many ghosts visit Ebenezer Scrooge in A Christmas Carol?
    Answer: Four.

17. Which red Christmas plant is mildly toxic to cats and dogs?
    Answer: The poinsettia.

18. In "Jingle Bell Rock," what are people doing in the frosty air?
    Answer: Dancing and prancing in Jingle Bell Square.

19. The Twelve Days of Christmas run from Christmas Day to which feast?
    Answer: Epiphany, also called Three Kings Day (January 6).

20. In "The Twelve Days of Christmas," what is the gift on the fifth day?
    Answer: Five gold rings. If you add up every repeat, the true love gives 364 gifts in total.

21. Which Dutch figure gave Santa Claus his English name?
    Answer: Sinterklaas.

22. Who is credited with sending the first commercial Christmas cards, in England in 1843?
    Answer: Sir Henry Cole.

23. What color are mistletoe berries?
    Answer: White.

Round 3: Hard Christmas trivia

History, geography and a few questions that start arguments.

24. What was "Jingle Bells" originally titled?
    Answer: "One Horse Open Sleigh," written by James Lord Pierpont in 1857.

25. "Jingle Bells" is often said to have been written for which holiday?
    Answer: Thanksgiving, although historians still debate it.

26. What happened on Christmas night 1776 on the Delaware River?
    Answer: George Washington led his army across it to attack Trenton.

27. What was the 1914 "Christmas Truce"?
    Answer: An unofficial ceasefire in which World War I soldiers on the Western Front met in no man's land on Christmas Day.

28. Which country gives London a Christmas tree for Trafalgar Square every year?
    Answer: Norway, as thanks for Britain's help in World War II.

29. About how many real Christmas trees are sold in the U.S. each year?
    Answer: 25–30 million.

30. In which modern-day country was Saint Nicholas born?
    Answer: Turkey. He was born in Patara and became bishop of Myra in the 4th century.

31. Which U.S. state was the first to make Christmas a legal holiday, in 1836?
    Answer: Alabama.

32. Which American colony banned celebrating Christmas from 1659 to 1681?
    Answer: Massachusetts Bay Colony.

33. Which carol does Scrooge chase a boy away for singing at his keyhole?
    Answer: "God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen."

34. What is the highest-grossing live-action Christmas movie of all time?
    Answer: Home Alone (1990). Counting animated films, the top earner is The Grinch (2018), with more than $500 million worldwide.

Round 4: Christmas movie trivia

The round that gets the loudest: every popular Christmas movie, from It's a Wonderful Life to Elf. Every team has a Home Alone expert.

35. What is the name of the boy left behind in Home Alone?
    Answer: Kevin McCallister.

36. Where is Kevin's family flying to when they leave him behind?
    Answer: Paris.

37. Which actor plays Scott Calvin in The Santa Clause?
    Answer: Tim Allen.

38. Who played the Grinch in the 2000 live-action How the Grinch Stole Christmas?
    Answer: Jim Carrey.

39. How many sizes did the Grinch's heart grow on Christmas Day?
    Answer: Three sizes.

40. Who plays Ebenezer Scrooge in The Muppet Christmas Carol?
    Answer: Michael Caine.

41. Who plays George Bailey in It's a Wonderful Life?
    Answer: James Stewart.

42. What is the name of George Bailey's guardian angel?
    Answer: Clarence Odbody.

43. What is the first rule in the Code of Elves in Elf?
    Answer: "Treat every day like Christmas."

44. Which actor plays Buddy in Elf?
    Answer: Will Ferrell.

45. Which movie is famous for the warning "You'll shoot your eye out"?
    Answer: A Christmas Story (1983).

46. What is the name of Ralphie's little brother in A Christmas Story?
    Answer: Randy.

47. What is "the first gift of Christmas" in The Polar Express?
    Answer: A bell from Santa's sleigh.

48. Which actor voices several characters in The Polar Express, including the conductor and Santa?
    Answer: Tom Hanks.

49. In Miracle on 34th Street, which department store hires Kris Kringle?
    Answer: Macy's.

50. In A Charlie Brown Christmas, what does Lucy say she wants for Christmas?
    Answer: Real estate.

Round 5: Christmas music trivia

Name that carol, name that singer, name that year.

51. Which Christmas song is the best-selling single of all time?
    Answer: "White Christmas," sung by Bing Crosby.

52. Which Mariah Carey song became a diamond-certified holiday single?
    Answer: "All I Want for Christmas Is You."

53. Who recorded "Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree" at age 13?
    Answer: Brenda Lee.

54. In "Santa Baby," what car does the singer ask for?
    Answer: A '54 convertible, light blue.

55. Which song includes the lyrics "pa rum pum pum pum"?
    Answer: "The Little Drummer Boy."

56. Who co-wrote and sang "Here Comes Santa Claus"?
    Answer: Gene Autry.

57. Which carol asks, "Do you see what I see?"
    Answer: "Do You Hear What I Hear?"

58. What was the first song played in space, during the Gemini 6 mission in 1965?
    Answer: "Jingle Bells."

59. In what language was "Silent Night" first written?
    Answer: German. "Stille Nacht" was first performed in Austria in 1818.

60. Which composer wrote the music for The Nutcracker ballet?
    Answer: Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky.

61. In "The Twelve Days of Christmas," what does "my true love" give on the first day?
    Answer: A partridge in a pear tree.

Round 6: Christmas traditions around the world

From Iceland's book flood to Japan's KFC dinner, the customs that make Christmas different in every country.

62. Which ancient Roman festival shaped many Christmas customs?
    Answer: Saturnalia.

63. In which country do people give books on Christmas Eve and spend the night reading?
    Answer: Iceland, during the Jólabókaflóð, or "Christmas book flood."

64. How many Yule Lads visit Icelandic children in the days before Christmas?
    Answer: 13.

65. Which country's Christmas Eve tradition is a bucket of fried chicken from KFC?
    Answer: Japan.

66. During Las Posadas in Mexico, what journey do people reenact over nine nights?
    Answer: Mary and Joseph's search for shelter in Bethlehem.

67. In France, what is the long Christmas Eve feast called?
    Answer: Le Réveillon.

68. Why is Christmas Eve Mass in Bolivia and Spain called "Misa del Gallo"?
    Answer: It means "Mass of the Rooster." The rooster is said to have been the first to announce Jesus's birth.

69. Which Swedish town builds a giant straw Christmas goat every year?
    Answer: Gävle.

70. In Norway, what do families traditionally hide on Christmas Eve, and why?
    Answer: Their brooms, so witches and evil spirits cannot steal them to ride.

71. What season is it in Australia at Christmas, and where do many families eat Christmas lunch?
    Answer: Summer. Many have a barbecue at the beach.

72. In Germany, what do children put out on the night of December 5 for St. Nicholas to fill?
    Answer: Their shoes or boots.

73. In Italy, which kindly witch brings presents on Epiphany?
    Answer: La Befana.

74. In the Philippines, what is the series of nine dawn Masses before Christmas called?
    Answer: Simbang Gabi.

75. In Ukraine, which unusual ornament is hidden on the Christmas tree for good luck?
    Answer: A spider or spider web ornament. Finding one on the tree is said to bring good luck.

Round 7: Santa Claus and his reindeer

Eight reindeer, one red nose and a department store promotion.

76. Which saint inspired the legend of Santa Claus?
    Answer: Saint Nicholas, a 4th-century bishop of Myra.

77. How was Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer created?
    Answer: As a 1939 Montgomery Ward department store promotion, written by Robert L. May.

78. Name Santa's eight original reindeer.
    Answer: Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Comet, Cupid, Donner (Donder) and Blitzen.

79. Including Rudolph, how many reindeer pull Santa's sleigh?
    Answer: Nine.

80. Which reindeer is named after a symbol of love?
    Answer: Cupid.

81. Which 1823 poem first named Santa's reindeer?
    Answer: "A Visit from St. Nicholas," better known as "'Twas the Night Before Christmas."

82. Which soft-drink company's 1930s ads helped fix the modern image of a jolly Santa in a red suit?
    Answer: Coca-Cola, with illustrations by Haddon Sundblom.

83. Where does Santa live?
    Answer: The North Pole.

84. Since what year has NORAD tracked Santa on Christmas Eve?
    Answer: 1955.

85. What color are Santa's gloves?
    Answer: White, to match the white fur trim on Santa's suit.

Round 8: Christmas food and drink trivia

From Henry VIII's turkey to Italy's panettone.

86. Which English king is credited with making turkey a Christmas dish?
    Answer: King Henry VIII.

87. What is a bûche de Noël?
    Answer: A French Christmas cake shaped like a yule log.

88. Which spice gives gingerbread its name?
    Answer: Ginger.

89. Which country is known for stollen, a fruit bread dusted with powdered sugar?
    Answer: Germany.

90. Which Italian sweet bread, studded with candied fruit, is eaten at Christmas?
    Answer: Panettone.

91. What sweet treat is used to build Christmas houses?
    Answer: Gingerbread.

92. Eggnog is thought to come from which medieval British drink?
    Answer: Posset, a hot milk punch with ale or wine.

93. What dried fruit is the main ingredient in Christmas pudding?
    Answer: Raisins (with currants and sultanas).

94. What is a mince pie traditionally filled with?
    Answer: Mincemeat: dried fruit, spices and suet. Modern versions usually have no meat.

95. How much turkey should you plan per person for Christmas dinner?
    Answer: About 1 to 1.5 pounds per person, bone in.

Round 9: Fun Christmas facts

Fun Christmas trivia to finish: quick-fire tiebreakers. True or false works well here too.

96. Christmas is celebrated to honor the birth of whom?
    Answer: Jesus Christ.

97. What does the "X" in "Xmas" stand for?
    Answer: Chi (Χ), the first letter of "Christ" in Greek.

98. Which carol is one of the most recorded songs of all time?
    Answer: "Silent Night."

99. How many points does a traditional snowflake have?
    Answer: Six.

100. What three gifts did the Three Kings bring?
     Answer: Gold, frankincense and myrrh.

How to host a Christmas trivia game at work

You do not need an app. Trivia is a fun game for the holiday season, and this format works for an office party of 10 to 60 people.

1. Make teams of 4–6 and give each team a festive name.
2. Pick six rounds. A good mix is rounds 1, 2, 4, 5, 6 and 3, saving the hardest for last.
3. Read each question twice. Give 30 seconds per question, then collect answer sheets.
4. Score one point per answer and double points in round 3, and post the scores between rounds.
5. Keep it to an hour. Trivia works best as the opener. Move on to food or an activity while energy is high.

For remote teams, run each round in breakout rooms with one person typing answers into the chat. Our guide to Christmas team building activities for remote teams has more ideas, and you can add a shipped craft kit with our virtual workshops. Planning an in-person party in New York? See corporate holiday party alternatives in NYC and our company holiday party ideas.

Frequently asked questions

What are good Christmas trivia questions for work?

Start with round 1 so everyone scores early, then add the movie and music rounds, which get the most laughs. Avoid anything religious or political if your team is mixed. The rounds above are written to be office-safe.

What are some hard Christmas trivia questions?

Round 3 is the hardest: the original title of "Jingle Bells," the first state to make Christmas a legal holiday (Alabama, 1836), the Christmas ban in the Massachusetts Bay Colony, and where Saint Nicholas was born.

What are easy Christmas trivia questions for kids?

Rounds 1, 4 (movies), 7 (Santa and his reindeer) and 8 (food) work for ages 7 and up.

How many questions should Christmas trivia have?

About 40–60 for an hour-long game (six rounds of 8–10 questions), or 15–20 for a quick icebreaker.

How do you play Christmas trivia on Zoom?

Share questions on screen, send teams to breakout rooms for a few minutes per round, and have each team type answers in the chat. Keep each round under 5 minutes.

Is there a printable Christmas trivia PDF?

Yes. Enter your email in the form on this page and we will send the printable pack with a separate answer key.

More holiday trivia: Halloween trivia questions, Thanksgiving trivia questions and pop culture trivia. Need a gift idea too? See handmade Christmas gifts in NYC.