Secret Santa gift exchanges are back for the holiday season

Secret Santa exchanges between friends are back again this year. And don’t worry; it’s not to late to get a group of friends together to be a part of the fun.

Secret Santa is an activity to do with friends during the Christmas season. First, get a group together and randomize names. You then buy a price-limited present for whomever you got from the randomizer.  But, you don’t tell anyone who you have, and try to guess who got you a present.

It’s a fun game to play because the people in the exchange don’t have to buy a lot of expensive gifts for all of their friends; instead they can focus on one meaningful gift.

There is also a more playful version of secret Santa called White Elephant.

White elephant is similar, but instead of getting a gift for one specific person, you buy a random gift to add to a communal pool of gifts.

One person chooses a gift they want from the lineup. The person after them gets to decide if they want to steal the last person’s gift or get a new one. The gifts can consist of anything from a special souvenir to a prank present, called a blue hippo.

Secret Santa is popular globally, but it’s called different names everywhere. It’s called Kris Kringel or Kris Kindle in Ireland and Angelito in the Dominican Republic. In Austria it can be called Wichteln, Secret Santa, Kris Kringle, Chris Kindle, or Engerl-Benger, while it is called Amigo Secreto in many Latin American countries and Monito Monita in the Philippines.

No one really knows how the tradition of secret Santa started, however, it is rumored that it was inspired by an anonymous person who would give presents to impoverished families in Kansas City. Later on, the gift-giver revealed himself to be a philanthropist named Larry Stewart.

All of this doesn’t really answer the question of what makes secret Santa popular, and there isn’t one right answer. It is most likely because of its fun and simplicity (or the excuse not to buy as many Christmas presents).

I hope this has made you think about doing a secret Santa or white elephant this holiday season!