Santa Claus / Father Christmas

[quexos]

The Jolly Season reminded me of something I always wondered about.

Le Père Noël which means Father Christmas as we call him here in Europe.
In America you guys call him Santa Claus as we all know.

So I was wondering why do you guys call him Santa Claus ?
Claus or Klaus is a name of German origin I think. How did the Father Christmas come to have a first name like Claus ? and what does "Santa" mean exactly ?

Thanks for sharing your wisdom on this issue

[ZackL]

We call him Santa Clause here in Canada and I don't know why haha. I found it strange when I moved from Brussels when i was little myself.

Found this:

The American version of St. Nicholas, or Santa Claus originally came from the Dutch version called Sint Klaas. The Dutch settlers in New Amsterdam (New York) brought this fun and lively tradition (some even say cult) to America.

[quirkmanly]

Wasn't Santa Claus derived from the name used by Dutch settlers in North America for Saint Nicholas. Sinter Claas or something like that?

It's been ages since I learned this at school!

[quirkmanly]

Originally Posted by ZackL

We call him Santa Clause here in Canada and I don't know why haha. I found it strange when I moved from Brussels when i was little myself.

Found this:

The American version of St. Nicholas, or Santa Claus originally came from the Dutch version called Sint Klaas. The Dutch settlers in New Amsterdam (New York) brought this fun and lively tradition (some even say cult) to America.

Ya beat me to it!!

[EricJ]

Originally Posted by ZackL

The American version of St. Nicholas, or Santa Claus originally came from the Dutch version called Sint Klaas. The Dutch settlers in New Amsterdam (New York) brought this fun and lively tradition (some even say cult) to America.

And the only reason other countries have "Father Christmas"'es (or even "Father Frost" in non-denominational Russia) is because the state theocracies there didn't want veiled associations with Catholic saints barging in on the national culture, and wanted something more universally generic.
Now ya know, Tintin.

[Teabaggins]

I think "santa" claus was created for marketing purposes from sinter klaus.

[EricJ]

Well, turn-of-the-century Coca-cola is historically the reason Santa wears red and white (instead of Father Xmas's holly-green), but that's it...

[quexos]

(Saint Nicolas) Sint Klaas ---> Santa Claus !!
I never thought of that but it seems obvious now..
The only strange thing is that tradition has been altered when moving on to the new world as Saint Nicholas and Father Christmas are two different characters here.
Saint Nicholas as we call him in Brussels is celebrated on December 6 as kids wake up to find gifts under their beds or other places in the house on that date. And father Christmas is on December 25 ...

[EricJ]

Originally Posted by quexos

Saint Nicholas as we call him in Brussels is celebrated on December 6 as kids wake up to find gifts under their beds or other places in the house on that date. And father Christmas is on December 25 ...

We're not as Catholic, and only pick a few annual saints to celebrate--
Like March's Beer Day, celebrated on St. Patrick's calendar day...

[Marquoz]

Originally Posted by EricJ

Well, turn-of-the-century Coca-cola is historically the reason Santa wears red and white (instead of Father Xmas's holly-green), but that's it...

Ahhh beat me to it. Was going to say I heard at work about that.

[Anthony P]

As others said, Santa Claus comes from Dutch (remember new york used to be called new Amsterdam) for Saint Nicholas. He was the bishop of Myra and his feast day is Dec 6 and he is known for being generous especially to children (one of the stories says that he put pouches of gold in the stockings that where out to dry of the three daughters of a poor man). Eventually people started giving gifts in his name on his feast day and eventually that merged with giving them in his name at Christmas time. He was from an extremely wealthy family but was giving his wealth to the needy

And what Eric said is 100% true, Santa Clause already existed for a long time but early 1900's Coke decide to remake him in their own image in an advertising campane (red and white the colour of Coke) and it caught on, before that he was usualy portrayed in the robes and clothes of a Bishop

[EricJ]

Originally Posted by Anthony P

As others said, Santa Claus comes from Dutch (remember new york used to be called new Amsterdam) for Saint Nicholas. He was the bishop of Myra and his feast day is Dec 6 and he is known for being generous especially to children (one of the stories says that he put pouches of gold in the stockings that where out to dry of the three daughters of a poor man). Eventually people started giving gifts in his name on his feast day and eventually that merged with giving them in his name at Christmas time.

Think it used to be the tradition to send a Saint Nicholas around town on the feast day, as children waited at the window for treats--

You'll also notice that Santa is never mentioned once in "Twas the Night Before Christmas", as it's technically "A Visit From St. Nicholas".

[Blue-Man]

Santa comes from a word for Saint i thought. But Claus? I have no idea. Its Saint Nicholas not Saint Claus so who knows.