During the holiday season, we hear Merry Christmas countless times. How did we settle on this Christmas greeting? It’s not clear, but in the United States, the word merry is almost exclusively used in the Christmas season. Merry in this phrase means “festive or characterized by rejoicing.”
One of the earliest known uses of Merry Christmas is in a December 22, 1534, record of a letter from Bishop John Fisher to Thomas Cromwell. To this day, Merry Christmas remains the most common way to express Christmas greetings in the United States. (Although, of course, there are many fun alternatives, such as happy holidays.)
But what do they say in other languages? How do people say Merry Christmas to each other around the world? Read on to learn about Christmas greetings from the United Kingdom to the Kingdom of Tonga.
British English: Happy Christmas
Although plenty of people in the United Kingdom use the traditional Merry Christmas greetings, across the Pond it is not uncommon to find Happy Christmas as well. The earliest evidence of the phrase Happy Christmas dates to 1688. It’s not known why happy is preferred to merry more frequently in the United Kingdom, although some speculate it has to do with the use of the expression by the British royal family in their Christmas broadcasts.
Diné: Merry Keshmish
In Diné or Navajo, Merry Keshmish is a Christmas greeting that mixes English and the word for the holiday in that language. A rough translation for merry in Navajo is nizhonigo, which also means “beautiful, nice, or neatly.” Nizhonigo Keshmish would be the expression entirely in Navajo. A variant of this uses ya’at’eeh, which is a common form of greeting in that language (ya’at’eeh keshmish).
Australian English: Have a good Chrissy
Australian English slang is remarkable for its penchant for shortening words, as in Aussie for Australian. This is how you get the informal Have a good Chrissie, where Chrissie is short for Christmas. It can also be spelled with a terminal -y instead of an -ie, becoming Chrissy.
Scots: A blithe yule
Scots is a language spoken in Scotland. In this language, which is related to but distinguished from Scottish Gaelic and English, you say a blithe yule to share Christmas greetings. Yule may look familiar; it’s another name for Christmas. The word blithe in Scots means “joyous” or “happy,” although in modern English today we more often use it to mean “without thought or regard.”
Spanish: Feliz Navidad
The most common Christmas greeting in Spanish is Feliz Navidad, popularized in the United States by the bilingual song by José Feliciano of the same name. Navidad is the Spanish for Christmas, referring specifically to the nativity, or the “birth of Jesus Christ.” The word navidad ultimately comes from the Latin nātīvitās, meaning “birth.”
Irish (Gaelic): Nollaig shona duit (singular)/daoibh (plural)
It may surprise you to learn that the Irish Gaelic word for Christmas, Nollaig comes from a similar root as the Spanish word for the holiday. Nollaig comes from the Latin nātālīcia, meaning “birthday party.” Like Navidad and nativity, Nollaig describes a celebration of the birth of Christ.
Christmas greetings have two forms that depend on the audience in Irish. If the speaker is addressing one person, the singular duit is used. When addressing a group, the plural daoibh is used instead.
French: Joyeux Noël
The French for Merry Christmas is Joyeux Noël. Noël, or Noel, means “Christmas,” from the Latin nātālis diēs, meaning “birthday.” Joyeux means “happy” or “merry,” as you may have guessed. The word joyeux is used in French to wish someone a happy birthday, for example (joyeux anniversaire).
Breton: Nedeleg Laouen
While French is the only official language of France, there are other heritage languages, including Breton. Breton is a Celtic language from the southwest of France. It is related to Cornish and Welsh. In this language, Nedeleg means “Christmas.” The word laouen is pronounced [ lou-en ] and means “happy.”
Romanian: Crăciun Fericit
French and Spanish are both Romance languages, meaning they are modern languages that come from Latin. Another Romance language is Romanian, a language spoken in Romania. For this reason, you would expect Christmas to take a similar form. However, Merry Christmas in Romanian is Crăciun fericit. Crăciun means “Christmas” in Romanian, for reasons unknown and highly disputed.
Hindi: Subh Krismas शुभ क्रिस्मस
In many languages, the name for Christmas is a close cognate with the English word. One example is Hindi, a language primarily spoken in India, where one Christmas greeting is śubh krismas. The word śubh has a variety of meanings and uses in Hindi. It means “happy” or “good,” as in good night or śubh rātri.
Mandarin Chinese: shèng dàn kuài lè 圣诞快乐
Other languages translate the meaning of Christmas more directly. This is the case in Mandarin Chinese, where Merry Christmas is shèng dàn kuài lè. Christmas in Mandarin is shèng dàn, which literally translates to “holy birth” or “birth of a saint.” Interestingly, shèng dàn is also used to refer to the ancient philosopher Confucius‘s birthday.
Tagalog: Maligayang Pasko
In Tagalog, a language spoken primarily in the Philippines, Merry Christmas is Maligayang Pasko. The word for Christmas in Tagalog is Pasko, which comes from the Spanish expression Pascua de Navidad or “Easter of Nativity.” As you may have guessed, Pascua means “Easter” in Spanish. So, what is Easter in Tagalog? It’s called Pagkabuhay, meaning “resurrection.”
Kinyarwanda: Noheli nziza
Kinyarwanda is a Bantu language spoken in Rwanda and neighboring countries. In this language, Christmas greetings are shared by saying Noheli nziza. Nziza has a lot of positive connotations; it means both “beautiful” and “good.” You may have also noticed that the Kinyarwanda word for Christmas, Noheli, sounds similar to the French Noël.
Tongan: Kilisimasi Fiefia
On the inhabited islands of the tiny island nation of the Kingdom of Tonga, Christmas greetings are shared by saying Kilisimasi Fiefia. Fiefia means, quite simply, “happy.” Tonga, located off the coast of Australia, doesn’t have snow or pine trees for Christmas. Instead, they decorate local trees with balloons and candy. Sounds sweet.
Christmas greetings sound different in different countries, cultures, and languages, but they all share the same message of goodwill. No matter which version you use, the sentiment is universal.
