Holidays

120 Fun Christmas Trivia Questions & Answers

See how many Christmas Trivia questions you can answer about Christmas songs, Christmas movies, and Christmas traditions around the world: 

By

Christmas Trivia Questions
Jonathan Borba

The holiday season is the happiest time of the year! Since you’ll be spending a lot of time with friends and family, you might as well play games together. Christmas trivia questions are the best way to bond and test your intelligence at the same time. See how many Christmas Trivia questions you can answer about Christmas songs, Christmas movies, and Christmas traditions around the world:

Contents

Trivia Question: What was the highest-grossing Christmas movie of all time?
Answer: Home Alone.

Trivia Question: How long does it take for a tree to reach the average, ideal “Christmas tree” height?
Answer: 15 years.

Trivia Question: What animated 2004 film is about a train that carries kids to the North Pole on Christmas Eve?
Answer: The Polar Express.

Trivia Question: How do you say Merry Christmas in Hawaiian?
Answer: Mele Kalikimaka.

Trivia Question: What did the other reindeer not let Rudolph do because of his shiny red nose?
Answer: Join in any reindeer games.

Trivia Question: Which popular holiday plant is known to be an aphrodisiac?
Answer: Mistletoe

Trivia Question: One of Santa’s reindeer shares a name with a famous symbol of Valentine’s Day. Which reindeer is that?
Answer: Cupid.

Trivia Question: What are the two other most popular names for Santa Claus?
Answer: Kris Kringle and Saint Nick.

Trivia Question: How many ghosts show up in A Christmas Carol?
Answer: Four.

Trivia Question: In Home Alone, where are the McCallisters going on vacation when they leave Kevin behind?
Answer: Paris.

Trivia Question: What do people traditionally put on top of a Christmas tree?
Answer: An angel.

Trivia Question: Name the animatronic cassette-playing bear toy that every kid wanted for Christmas in the mid-80s.
Answer: Teddy Ruxpin.

Trivia Question: In Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol, what was the first name of Scrooge?
Answer: Ebenezer.

Trivia Question: The movie Miracle on 34th Street is based on a real-life department store. What is it?
Answer: Macy’s.

Trivia Question: What does Santa say at the end of “A Visit from St. Nicholas” book?
Answer: Happy Christmas to all, and to all a good night!

Trivia Question: Which U.S. state was the first to declare Christmas an official holiday?
Answer: Oklahoma.

Trivia Question: Whose eyes are all aglow in “The Christmas Song?”
Answer: Tiny tots.

Trivia Question: Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer started off as a marketing gimmick for what store?
Answer: Montgomery Ward.

Trivia Question: According to legend, what holiday goodies were shaped to resemble a shepherd’s staff? This was a way to remind children of the shepherds who visited baby Jesus?
Answer: Candy canes.

Trivia Question: Which Hollywood actor played six different roles in The Polar Express?
Answer: Tom Hanks.

Christmas trivia questions and answers for the whole family

Trivia Question: What’s the most popular kind of tree to use for a Christmas tree?
Answer: Nordmann Fir.

Trivia Question: In the classic Christmas movie, How The Grinch Stole Christmas, the Grinch was described with three words. What are they?
Answer: Stink, stank, stunk.

Trivia Question: What did Frosty The Snowman do when a magic hat was placed on his head?
Answer: He began to dance around.

Trivia Question: Which country has a tradition of a witch dropping gifts for children through the chimney at Christmas?
Answer: Italy.

Trivia Question: In which modern-day country was St. Nicholas born in?
Answer: Turkey (originally Patara, a city in the ancient district of Lycia, in Asia Minor).

Trivia Question: What words follow “Silent Night” in the song?
Answer: Holy night.

Trivia Question: What is Ralphie’s little brother’s name in the movie A Christmas Story?
Answer: Randy.

Trivia Question: What is the best-selling Christmas song ever?
Answer: “White Christmas” by Bing Crosby.

Trivia Question: What was the real name of the character Tim Allen plays in The Santa Clause?
Answer: Scott Calvin.

Trivia Question: What is the most recorded Christmas song of all time?
Answer: “Silent Night”.

Trivia Question: In the song “Winter Wonderland,” what do we call the snowman?
Answer: Parson Brown.

Trivia Question: In the song Twelve Days of Christmas, what is given on the 7th day?
Answer: Swans a-swimming.

Trivia Question: What figure from English folklore came to be associated with Santa Claus?
Answer: Father Christmas.

Trivia Question: What gift did the Little Drummer Boy give to the newborn Christ?
Answer: He played a song for him on his drums.

Trivia Question: Which scene in White Christmas wasn’t originally slated to be in the film?
Answer: Bing Crosby and Danny Kaye singing, “Sisters”.

Trivia Question: Who wrote, “Christmas doesn’t come from a store, maybe Christmas perhaps means a little bit more?”
Answer: Dr. Seuss.

Trivia Question: “The Muppet Christmas Carol,” who played Scrooge? Hint: It wasn’t a muppet.
Answer: Michael Caine.

Trivia Question: As the clock chimes midnight to ring in the New Year, a Spanish tradition involves eating twelve of what? You’re supposed to have one for each chime?
Answer: Grapes.

Christmas trivia questions to break the ice at parties

Trivia Question: What well-known Christmas carol became the first song ever broadcast from space in 1965?
Answer: Jingle Bells.

Trivia Question: Three of Santa’s reindeer’s names begin with the letter “D.” What are those names?
Answer: Dancer, Dasher, and Donner.

Trivia Question: Elvis isn’t going to have a white Christmas he’s going to have a….
Answer: Blue Christmas.

Trivia Question: Who invented electric Christmas lights?
Answer: Thomas Edison in 1880.

Trivia Question: Where was baby Jesus born?
Answer: In Bethlehem.

Trivia Question: How many Americans celebrate Christmas?
Answer: Nine in 10 Americans.

Trivia Question: What entrepreneur was the first person to dress up as Santa in his department store? He started the tradition of department store/mall Santas.
Answer: James Edgar.

Trivia Question: In the movie Elf, what was the first rule of The Code of Elves?
Answer: Treat every day like Christmas.

Trivia Question: Which real-life person is Santa Claus based on?
Answer: The Christian bishop St. Nicholas.

Trivia Question: What much-reviled Christmas edible is known for its long shelf life?
Answer: Fruitcake.

Trivia Question: “And on every street corner you hear,” what?
Answer: Silver bells.

Trivia Question: What would you stick into an onion when following a traditional bread sauce recipe?
Answer: Cloves.

Trivia Question: When gold was dropped down the chimney of the home of three poor sisters, it created what Christmas tradition?
Answer: Stockings by the fireplace! (The gold was dropped down to help the sisters fulfill their dowry.)

Trivia Question: Who tries to stop Christmas from coming, by stealing all things of Christmas from “the Who’s”?
Answer: The Grinch.

Trivia Question: What Christmas decoration was originally made from strands of silver?
Answer: Tinsel.

Trivia Question: What political cartoonist is largely responsible for defining what the modern Santa Claus looks like?
Answer: Thomas Nast.

Trivia Question: What was the original title for The Little Drummer Boy?
Answer: Carol of the Drum.

Trivia Question: In the movie It’s A Wonderful Life, what happened every time a bell rang?
Answer: An angel got his wings.

Trivia Question: What’s the name of the main villain in The Nightmare Before Christmas?
Answer: Oogie Boogie.

Trivia Question: What Christmas-themed ballet premiered in Saint Petersburg, Russia in 1892?
Answer: The Nutcracker.

The hardest Christmas trivia questions

Trivia Question: Which country started the tradition of putting up a Christmas tree?
Answer: Germany.

Trivia Question: How many gifts in total were given in “The Twelve Days of Christmas” song?
Answer: 364.

Trivia Question: Which fairy tale was the first gingerbread houses inspired by?
Answer: Hansel and Gretel.

Trivia Question: In the movie A Christmas Story, what was the name of the neighbors whose dog ate the Christmas turkey?
Answer: The Bumpuses.

Trivia Question: What are Christmas trees also called?
Answer: Yule-Tree.

Trivia Question: What was Frosty the Snowman’s nose made out?
Answer: A button.

Trivia Question: How many lights were on the Griswold’s house in Christmas Vacation?
Answer: 25,000.

Trivia Question: What is the name of George Bailey’s guardian angel in It’s A Wonderful Life?
Answer: Clarence Odbody.

Trivia Question: Which famous choreographer went uncredited on “White Christmas?”
Answer: Bob Fosse.

Trivia Question: What are the most common sides for Christmas dinner?
Answer: Green bean casserole, mashed potatoes and gravy, baked ham.

Trivia Question: According to the song, what did my true love give to me on the eighth day of Christmas?
Answer: Eight maids a milking.

Trivia Question: What Christmas beverage is also known as “milk punch?”
Answer: Eggnog.

Trivia Question: Which Christmas song contains the lyric “Everyone dancing merrily in the new old-fashioned way?”
Answer: “Rocking Around The Christmas Tree”.

Trivia Question: What are you supposed to do when you find yourself under the mistletoe?
Answer: Kiss.

Trivia Question: What is the significance of a Yule Log?
Answer: The popular cake symbolizes the log you should burn on Christmas Eve. If the log goes out before the morning, it is believed you will face bad luck in the new year.

Trivia Question: In the song “Frosty the Snowman,” what made Frosty come to life?
Answer: An old silk hat.

Trivia Question: What would you be drinking if you had ‘Glühwein?’
Answer: Mulled wine.

Trivia Question: Which spirit is traditionally added to butter and served with Christmas pudding?
Answer: Brandy.

Trivia Question: What bad guy did Rudolph have to avoid?
Answer: The Abominable Snowman.

Trivia Question: How do you say “Merry Christmas” in Spanish?
Answer: Feliz Navidad.

Christmas trivia questions for the holiday season

Trivia Question: Where did the word and idea “Christmukkah” come from?
Answer: The O.C.

Trivia Question: In 1981, Bob and Doug McKenzie released their own version of a classic Christmas song. Which song is that?
Answer: The Twelve Days of Christmas.

Trivia Question: In the 1964 movie Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, what was the name of Rudolph’s elf friend?
Answer: Hermey.

Trivia Question: In order to get enough frames to make the entire Nightmare Before Christmas film, how many frames were needed?
Answer: 110,000 (that’s 24 frames per second).

Trivia Question: What popular Christmas song was actually written for Thanksgiving?
Answer: “Jingle Bells”.

Trivia Question: What was the first company that used Santa Claus in advertising?
Answer: Coca-Cola.

Trivia Question: Finish this line from How the Grinch Stole Christmas: “It came without packages, boxes or ___.”
Answer: Bags.

Trivia Question: How much do Americans spend on holiday shopping?
Answer: Americans spend an average of $942 per person on holiday gifts.

Trivia Question: In which direction should you stir mincemeat for good luck?
Answer: Clockwise.

Trivia Question: Why couldn’t Ralphie have a BB gun in A Christmas Story?
Answer: “You’ll shoot your eye out, kid!”

Trivia Question: In “The Christmas Song,” who did the narrator see kissing Santa Claus under the mistletoe?
Answer: Mommy.

Trivia Question: In the movie Elf, how does Buddy get to the North Pole?
Answer: He hides in Santa’s sack.

Trivia Question: Where did there arise such a clatter?
Answer: On the lawn.

Trivia Question: According to the folklore of Austria and other countries, what horned figure punishes naughty children at Christmastime?
Answer: Krampus.

Trivia Question: When was the first Christmas card sent?
Answer: In 1843. It was designed by John Horsley.

Trivia Question: How many Americans buy artificial Christmas trees?
Answer: More than 80 percent, according to the American Christmas Tree Association.

Trivia Question: What is the name of the last ghost that visits Scrooge in A Christmas Carol?
Answer: The Ghost of Christmas Yet To Come.

Trivia Question: Who came up with the Elf on the Shelf game?
Answer: Carol Aebersold and her daughters, Chanda Bell and Christa Pitts.

Trivia Question: What traditional Christmas decoration is actually a parasitic plant?
Answer: Mistletoe.

The greatest Christmas trivia questions

Trivia Question: Which country did eggnog come from?
Answer: England.

Trivia Question: In A Christmas Story, what gift does Ralphie receive from his aunt?
Answer: A pink bunny suit.

Trivia Question: Which one of Santa’s reindeer has the same name as another holiday mascot?
Answer: Cupid.

Trivia Question: Visions of which food danced in children’s heads as they slept in the poem “‘Twas The Night Before Christmas?”
Answer: Sugarplums.

Trivia Question: Which president had his own special recipe for eggnog?
Answer: George Washington.

Trivia Question: Who played George Bailey in the Christmas classic It’s a Wonderful Life?
Answer: Jimmy Stewart.

Trivia Question: In what decade did NORAD (North American Aerospace Defense Command, formerly CONAD) start tracking Santa on Christmas Eve?
Answer: The 1950’s (specifically 1955).

Trivia Question: What sparks roughly 100 accidental fires each holiday season?
Answer: Dried out Christmas trees.

Trivia Question: What country has the tradition of filling children’s clogs with candy and treats on December 5?
Answer: The Netherlands.

Trivia Question: What alcohol is used to “spike” eggnog?
Answer: Rum.

Trivia Question: How many reindeer were in the story Twas the Night Before Christmas?
Answer: Eight. Rudolph wasn’t in the story.

Trivia Question: Stolen is the traditional fruit cake of which country?
Answer: Germany.

Trivia Question: Per a recent holiday fad, what “spy” hides around the house, reporting back to Santa on who has been naughty and nice?
Answer: The Elf on the Shelf.

Trivia Question: What does the Peanuts gang sing at the end of “A Charlie Brown Christmas?”
Answer: Hark! The Herald Angels Sing.

Trivia Question: What song does Lucy ask Schroeder to play on his piano in “A Charlie Brown Christmas”?
Answer: Jingle Bells.

Trivia Question: What country is the Poinsettia, with its red and green foliage, native to?
Answer: Mexico.

Trivia Question: What is the number of children who celebrate Christmas around the world?
Answer: Around 700 million.

Trivia Question: Why are Christmas candy canes red and white in color?
Answer: The white of the cane can represent the purity of Jesus Christ. The red stripes are for the blood he shed when he died on the cross.

Trivia Question: In what modern-day country was Saint Nicholas born?
Answer: Turkey.

Trivia Question: Santa Claus is mainly a mix of what two figures?
Answer: Saint Nicholas (Sinterklaas in dutch) and Father Christmas.

More Fun Trivia Questions and Answers

Below are more quiz questions to stump you and your friends.

About the author

January Nelson

January Nelson

January Nelson is a writer, editor, and dreamer. She writes about astrology, games, love, relationships, and entertainment. January graduated with an English and Literature degree from Columbia University.