You know their names by heart: Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Comet, Cupid, Donder, and Blitzen. And of course, Rudolph, the red-nosed reindeer, who lights the way. But have you ever wondered where these names come from and why they’ve endured?
To find the answer, we have to go back to 1823 where the names first appear on record, when a New York scholar named Clement Clarke Moore penned a poem that would change the holidays forever. You know it as ‘A Visit from St. Nicholas’ but you might recognize its opening line better: ‘Twas the night before Christmas…
In it, Moore describes Santa’s grand entrance – and exit – naming his trusty reindeer for the very first time:
"More rapid than eagles his coursers they came,
And he whistled, and shouted, and called them by name;
'Now, Dasher! now, Dancer! now, Prancer and Vixen!
On, Comet! on, Cupid! on, Donder and Blitzen!'"
These names weren’t just whimsical, but why these names?
A nod to New York’s Dutch roots
In New York, the former New Amsterdam, the Dutch language still ran strong. Two names stand out: Donder and Blitzen. Their names come directly from Dutch – donder en bliksem meaning ‘thunder and lightning’. This phrase was a mild form of swearing in 19th century New York – an equivalent to saying ‘gosh darn’ or ‘good gravy’. It’s a fitting choice for a city where children already called Santa ‘Sante Klaas’, derived from ‘Sinter Niklaas’, Dutch for St. Nicholas.
The power of alliteration and flight
The other names – Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Comet, and Cupid – were likely chosen for their lyrical quality which fit his chosen meter (iambic). He might have started with, or just vastly preferred, Donder and Blitzen – that would explain the least intuitive of the reindeer names, Vixen (“female fox”), chosen for the rhyme. Comet and Cupid fit the meter, have the additional advantage of alliteration, and both describe things that fly, as reindeer do.
Dasher and Dancer, too, are metered and alliterative names. They follow a long tradition of naming animals after attributes (for instance, Hunter and Rover for dogs), although some people have suggested that Santa’s inspiration here was Thor, the Norse god of thunder. In the myths, Thor rode the skies in a wagon pulled by two flying goats named Gnasher and Cracker.
Even the structure is deliberate. Moore’s names follow a rhythmic, iambic cadence designed to stick in your mind. It’s no accident that these reindeer names have become icons – clever use of sound and rhythm ensures they’re unforgettable.
Rudolph: The late-blooming star
But what about Rudolph, the most famous reindeer of all? He didn’t join the team until 1939, when a Chicago department store introduced him in a free holiday storybook that they were giving away as part of a holiday promotion. Rudolph’s name had to fit the established pattern, and it does, with playful alliteration. According to reports, he was almost named Reginald, but it felt too stiff and British – so Rudolph was born.
It wasn’t until a decade later that Rudolph’s story was adapted into the song ‘Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer’, which was an instant number one hit, and a song that to this day most people know by heart.
Language as legacy
Santa’s story is a testament to the power of language to create legends. As we’re on the subject of words entering the English language from Dutch – the American word for the food that children leave as a gift for Santa, cookies, comes into English from the Dutch koekjes, ‘little cakes’: another gift from Dutch settlers in New York City. Similarly, the name of Santa’s vehicle, sleigh, entered English from Dutch in the 1700s. Google Ngrams, a tool that shows visualizations of word frequency over time in the Google Books corpus, shows that sleigh began seriously overtaking sled only in the early 1820s.
The same tool shows that the names of Santa’s reindeer – or the names that weren’t already commonplace words, like comet – became vastly more popular in English-language texts after the publication of Moore’s poem.
The final word on Santa’s reindeer
These names weren’t chosen by accident. They were crafted with the same care and precision as any great piece of branding. They’re memorable, rhythmic, and carry cultural significance. Moore didn’t just pick reindeer names – he created a linguistic legacy that has enchanted generations.
In the end, Santa is more than a figure of holiday cheer, he’s a master of storytelling and showmanship. His reindeer, with their evocative, carefully chosen names, are symbols of the enduring power of language.
After all, words that capture imaginations can last a lifetime.