Who can answer this one?

Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Comet, Cupid, Donner, Blitzen, and Rudolph! 🙂

These were first named in the 1823 poem A Visit from St. Nicholas, where they are called Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Comet, Cupid, Dunder and Blixem. Dunder was later changed to Donder and — in other works — Donner, and Blixem was later changed to Blitzen.

In later works, other reindeer have been added to this list, including:

Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer

Robbie the Reindeer

Chet from The Santa Clause 2

We all know that Santa’s sleigh is pulled through the sky by a team of reindeer. But where did this essential part of our Christmas tradition originate?

Like much of the modern Christmas, the origin of Santa’s reindeer is relatively new. They were first devised by Clement Clarke Moore in his famous 1822 poem “A Visit From Saint Nicholas”. This is better known today as “The Night Before Christmas”. Here he describes Saint Nicholas being pulled by a team of eight reindeer.

What Are The Names Of Santa’s Reindeer?

Knowing what Santa’s reindeer are called is a great skill for quiz nights! According to Moore’s original poem the eight reindeer were named:

Dasher

Dancer

Prancer

Vixen

Comet

Cupid

Dunder / Donner

Blixem / Blitzen

It has been suggested that in the original version Donner and Blitzen (thunder and lightning) were actually called by the Dutch equivalents of Dunder (sometimes Donder) and Blixem.

Rudolph

One name is conspicuous from the list above by its absence: the most famous reindeer of all, Rudolph. Rudolph the red-nosed reindeer is the best known of all Santa’s reindeer yet he wasn’t part of the original team of eight.

Rudolph was created in 1939 by Robert L. May. May worked for the Montgomery Ward chain of department stores which used to give away free colouring books and other gifts to children over Christmas. They wanted a story specially written for them and May – who already liked to write children’s stories – was assigned the task

May invented Rudolph, a shy reindeer with an unusually shiny red nose who was a bit of an ugly duckling but whose shiny nose ultimately saved the day. The story was a great success and Rudolph became an instant hit. May’s original poem was turned into the famous song by his brother-in-law Johnny Marks.

Dasher, Dancer Prancer, Vixen, Comet, Cupid, Donder and Blitzen, and Rudolph works for me

Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Comet, Cupid, Donner, Blitzen, and Rudolph! but rudulph didn’t even really enter the big picture until the mid-60’s, so wether or not you want to count him is up to you!

Dasher, Dancer Prancer, Vixen, Comet, Cupid, Donder and Blitzen, and Rudolph

Comet, Cupid, Vixen, Dancer, Prancer, Blitzen, Dasher, Donder, then Rudolph is that is to be believed :S

rudolph, won’t you guide my sleigh tonight?

on dasher, on dancer, on prancer and vixen!

on comet, on cupid, on donner and blitzen!!!

Mercury,Venus,Earth,Mars,Jupiter,Saturn,Uranus,Neptune, & Pluto

Comet and Cupid, Donner and Blitzen, Dick and Jane.