What is Secret Santa?
Secret Santa is a gift exchange where each person is secretly assigned another person to buy a gift for, usually within a set budget. Everyone gives one gift and receives one, and the giver stays unknown until a reveal, if there is one.
How Secret Santa works
- A group agrees on a budget and a swap date.
- Each person's name goes into a hat or a draw tool.
- Everyone draws one name and keeps it private.
- They buy one gift for that person.
- Gifts are swapped on the date, often with a reveal.
Where did Secret Santa come from?
Nobody can pin down a single origin. Anonymous gift giving at Christmas goes back a long way in different places, and several newspaper stories from the early 1900s describe groups giving anonymous gifts. One often-repeated story credits a 1930s Depression-era Kansas City businessman, but that is hard to prove, so treat any exact year or person as a legend. What is clear is that the game as an office and family tradition spread widely in the second half of the 1900s.
Other names for Secret Santa
| Name | Where used | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Kris Kringle | Australia, New Zealand, Ireland, parts of the UK | Same idea, see Kris Kringle |
| Amigo Secreto | Brazil, Portugal, parts of Latin America | Literally "secret friend", often at year-end parties |
| Amigo Invisible | Spain and parts of Latin America | "Invisible friend" |
| Wichteln | Germany | A small gift swap among friends or coworkers, check local use |
| Secret Santa | US, Canada, UK | The common English name |
Secret Santa vs. White Elephant
The two are often mixed up. In Secret Santa, you are assigned one person and buy for them. In white elephant, everyone brings one anonymous gift and takes turns choosing or stealing. Read white elephant vs. Secret Santa vs. Yankee swap for a full comparison.
Who plays Secret Santa
- Offices and teams, where it is a low-pressure way to swap gifts.
- Families, especially large ones, so each adult buys one good gift instead of ten small ones.
- Friends, classes and clubs.
- Online groups, where people may never meet.
Hollyhush runs a free Secret Santa for up to 50 people. One link, no app, no signup. Create your group, free
Why people like it
It is cheaper, because you buy one gift. It is easier to shop, because you focus on one person. And the mystery adds a small game. The Secret Santa rules page has everything you need to start, and how to organize one walks you through the steps.
A short example
Say eight coworkers join. Maya sets a $20 budget and a swap date of December 18. The group draws names with a link, and each person sees only one name. Over the next two weeks people ask questions in an anonymous chat, shop, and wrap a gift. On the 18th, gifts go on a table, and each person opens theirs. Some groups then reveal who gave what, and others keep it a secret. That is all Secret Santa is.
Frequently asked questions
What does Secret Santa mean?
A gift exchange where each person buys for one assigned person and stays anonymous until a reveal.
How do you play Secret Santa?
Draw a name, keep it secret, buy a gift within the budget, and swap on the date. A draw tool makes it fair.
Who invented Secret Santa?
No one knows for sure. Anonymous Christmas gifting is old, and the modern game spread in the 1900s. Be careful with any exact origin story.
What is Secret Santa called in Australia?
Kris Kringle, in Australia and New Zealand. It is the same type of exchange.
How many people do you need for Secret Santa?
At least three, but groups of eight to thirty work best.
Try it now
A draw takes about a minute. No signup, no email, a private link for everyone.
Create your group, free- Couples & exclusions
- Wishlists & anonymous questions
- Deletes itself in 60 days
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