Secret Santa Around the World: Kris Kringle, Wichteln and More
In short
Secret Santa is called Kris Kringle in Australia, New Zealand and Ireland, Wichteln in Germany, Austria and Switzerland, and amigo invisible in Spain (amigo secreto across Latin America). In most name-draw versions the core is the same: draw one name, give one gift, stay anonymous. What changes is the date, the budget and how silly it gets, and nobody has confirmed a single origin.
Your German colleague wants to do Wichteln. A cousin in Sydney calls the family version Kris Kringle. A friend in Madrid says amigo invisible, and the group chat that now holds all three of you asks a fair question: is Secret Santa in other countries the same game, or three different ones?
Mostly, yes. The names, dates and house rules change from place to place, but the skeleton is recognizable anywhere. The differences that matter are the ones that leave you holding a thoughtful $20 gift at a party where everyone else brought a joke, and this guide is built around those.
We'll sort out what each name means, how the customs differ, what is known (and unknown) about where it all began, and how to run an exchange across countries. Where sources disagree, we say so.
What is Secret Santa called in other countries?
In English-speaking countries it's mostly Secret Santa, with Kris Kringle in Australia, New Zealand and Ireland. German speakers say Wichteln, and Spanish and Portuguese speakers say amigo invisible, amigo secreto or amigo oculto. The full list, with the quirks worth knowing, is below.
| Name | Where you'll hear it | Good to know |
|---|---|---|
| Secret Santa | United States, Canada, United Kingdom; also used as is in Italy and France | The default English name |
| Kris Kringle, Kris Kindle | Australia, New Zealand, Ireland | Same game; Kris Kindle is a common Irish spelling |
| Pollyanna | Pennsylvania and the Philadelphia area, including South Jersey | An older regional name for Secret Santa; it is fading |
| Secret Snowflake | English-speaking groups that want a secular name | Same mechanics, with Santa swapped out |
| Wichteln | Germany, Austria, Switzerland | Named after the Wichtel, a folklore helper who works unseen |
| Engerl-Bengerl | Austria | Small surprises for your match through Advent |
| Julklapp | Sweden | Swedish for Christmas present, from an old knock-and-throw gift custom |
| Lootjes trekken | Netherlands | Names drawn for Sinterklaas, with a disguised gift and a poem |
| Amigo invisible | Spain and parts of Latin America | Literally invisible friend |
| Amigo secreto, amigo oculto | Much of Latin America, including Colombia and Brazil; oculto is also Brazilian | Literally secret friend and hidden friend |
| Babbo Natale segreto, Père Noël secret | Italy, France | Both countries mostly use Secret Santa itself |
| Monito Monita | Philippines | Spanish-derived name; the group sets the budget, sometimes a theme |
| Angelito | Dominican Republic | Literally little angel |
The names have stories of their own. Kris Kringle began as an English mangling of Christkindl, the “Christ child” who brings gifts in parts of Germany, Austria and Switzerland, and by the mid-1800s it was a US nickname for Santa Claus. How it ended up naming a gift exchange in Australia, New Zealand and Ireland isn't well documented, so be wary of anyone who explains it in one confident sentence.
New to the game itself? What Secret Santa is and how a round works covers the basics on one page.
What stays the same wherever you play?
Four things turn up in nearly every name-draw version, whatever it's called.
- A draw. Everyone gets exactly one recipient and gives exactly one gift, so the group doesn't need an even number of people.
- A shared limit. The group agrees an amount beforehand, in whatever currency it uses.
- A secret giver. The secret lasts an afternoon in some groups, all of Advent in others and forever in a few.
- A hint of mischief. Many traditions attach a riddle, poem or clue so the receiver can guess.
That fourth ingredient is the one that travels best. Swedish julklapp gifts often came with a teasing rhyme, Dutch gifts arrive disguised with a poem, and German Gedichte-Wichteln has the giver read a poem about the recipient aloud while the group guesses who the poem is about. The draw is the machinery; the guessing is the fun. If you want to write your own, how to write Secret Santa clues and what to write in a Secret Santa card will save you a blank page.
What isn't shared is the calendar, the amount, how long the secret lasts and how silly the gifts are. The draw is the easy part to standardize: Amazing Secret Santa emails each person their match privately, so it works the same for a colleague in Sydney as for one in Stuttgart.
How do Kris Kringle, Pollyanna and Secret Snowflake differ from Secret Santa?
In the rules, barely. The differences are the name, the usual limit and, in the southern hemisphere, the weather.
Kris Kringle in Australia, New Zealand and Ireland
Names go into a hat, everyone draws one and buys a small gift, same as anywhere. Ai Group, an Australian employers' body, suggests a clear dollar limit (“$10 or $20 limits can be a good guide”), making participation optional so nobody feels pressured, and remembering that workplace policies still apply because Kris Kringle is work-related. In Ireland, the advice site HR Headquarters suggests a Kris Kindle limit of €10 to €15, names drawn at the start of December and the swap held at the Christmas party or on the last working day.
One thing mixed groups forget: December is early summer in Australia and New Zealand. A chunky wool scarf that delights your match in Dublin lands differently in Perth.
Pollyanna and Secret Snowflake
Pollyanna is a regional name heard mainly in and around Pennsylvania, according to the Dictionary of American Regional English, and the Philadelphia area and South Jersey are the places usually named. It is an older term that, as Worldwide Words notes, now seems close to extinct. The name is usually linked to Eleanor H. Porter's 1913 novel about a relentlessly optimistic girl, although nobody seems to have documented the connection. The game itself is plain Secret Santa.
Secret Snowflake is the same mechanics with Santa swapped out, used by schools, workplaces and mixed-culture groups where Santa may not fit everyone. A plain “holiday gift exchange” does the same job.
How does Wichteln work in Germany, Austria and Switzerland?
Wichteln is the German-language Secret Santa: names are drawn, and each person secretly gives a small gift to their match, traditionally in the weeks before Christmas. The name comes from the Wichtel, a folklore helper who does good deeds unseen, which fits the classic idea of slipping the gift to your match unnoticed.
Austria has its own word. In Engerl-Bengerl, one person plays the Engerl (little angel) and secretly brings small surprises to their assigned Bengerl through Advent, the weeks before Christmas, so the exchange stretches over several weeks instead of a single swap day.
Budgets stay modest. The Austrian site Regionalsuche calls 5 to 20 euros the usual range and says 3 to 5 euros is often enough in school classes, where drawings, crafts and small books are typical gifts. The German career site Karrierebibel suggests 10 to 15 euros for colleagues. Its “better not” list covers perfume, deodorant, diet and fitness products and political messages, partly because some of those can read as a comment on the person.
What are Schrottwichteln, Räuberwichteln and the other gag variants?
Wichteln is really a family of games, and only some of them involve drawing a name. Schrottwichteln, Würfelwichteln and Räuberwichteln are swap games where nobody is assigned a person, which is why “we're doing Wichteln” can mean two quite different evenings.
| Variant | Where | How it works | Name draw? |
|---|---|---|---|
| Classic Wichteln | Germany, Austria, Switzerland | Names are drawn and each person gives one gift to their match | Yes |
| Gedichte-Wichteln | German-speaking countries | The giver reads a poem about their match; the group guesses who it is for | Yes |
| Schrottwichteln | German-speaking countries | Quirky, kitschy or useless items are wrapped and swapped for laughs | No |
| Würfelwichteln | German-speaking countries | Dice rolls decide who takes or swaps a gift; house rules vary | No |
| Räuberwichteln | German-speaking countries | Players take turns opening a gift or stealing an opened one | No |
| Pakkeleg | Denmark | Players roll dice to claim gifts from the middle, then swap them in a timed round | No |
| White Elephant, Yankee Swap, Dirty Santa | United States | Anonymous gifts are picked and stolen in turn | No |
Ask one question before you shop: do I buy for one person, or bring something for the pile? A thoughtful $20 gift is perfect for a classic draw and wasted at a Schrottwichteln, where the winning move is the most gloriously useless item in your cupboard. Even there, offensive, intimate or unhygienic items stay off the table.
Dice and stealing games come with endless house rules, so write them down before you start. Our comparison of Secret Santa vs White Elephant covers the stealing format, and Christmas gift exchange ideas lists more ways to swap gifts. Classic Wichteln and Gedichte-Wichteln start with a draw, so any name draw works for them. The rest need no name draw, only dice or a turn order.
What do Sweden, the Netherlands and the Spanish-speaking world add?
Older gift customs and a few twists: Sweden's knock-and-throw julklapp, Dutch disguised surprises with poems, and amigo secreto, which in Colombia belongs to September.
Julklapp in Sweden
Julklapp joins jul (Christmas) with klapp, a knock or rap, and The Local's Swedish word of the day says the word was first recorded in Swedish in 1741. Sweden's Nordic Museum describes the custom as knocking on a door on Christmas Eve and throwing in a small, playful gift, tied to Christmas rhymes and a teasing tone; other accounts add that the giver stayed unseen. Today julklapp simply means “Christmas present”, so context tells you whether a Swede means the old game or just a gift.
Lootjes trekken and the Sinterklaas surprise in the Netherlands
On Sinterklaas evening, December 5, many Dutch groups draw lots (lootjes trekken) and buy a gift for the person they drew. Then comes the fun part: the gift is hidden inside a handmade disguise, which the Dutch call a surprise. A book-shaped box might hold a present for a reader. It usually comes with a rhyming poem about the recipient, and gifts are opened in turns.
Amigo invisible and amigo secreto in Spain and Latin America
The name changes by country, but the bigger difference is when and how people play. In Colombia the game belongs to Día del Amor y la Amistad, the third Saturday of September. Participants leave small anonymous treats and notes, called endulzadas, in the weeks before, and on the day each person gives clues about their secret friend before the reveal, with a minimum and maximum gift price agreed in advance. In Brazil, a joke edition called amigo da onça runs on deliberately useless or teasing gifts. In Spain, January 6 (Reyes Magos) stays its own gift day, so don't assume it is your exchange date.
Where does Secret Santa come from?
Nobody knows. Several competing stories exist, and none is confirmed.
| Theory | What supports it | What is missing |
|---|---|---|
| Swedish julklapp: gifts knocked or tossed through a door | A Swedish museum describes the custom, The Local dates the word to 1741 and guides often cite it | A documented line to the name draw |
| Wichtel folklore: an unseen household helper | The name itself and the advice to give gifts unnoticed | It explains the word, not when people began drawing names |
| Compadre de papelito: a Venezuelan game of drawing names from slips | Repeated in Spanish-language press, which says it may have started there | We found no primary source, so the dates quoted for it are unverified |
| Sinterklaas lootjes: Dutch name drawing with disguised gifts | A living tradition with a very similar draw, disguise and rhyme | No source we found dates when the drawing began |
| Kansas City's Secret Santa: a man who gave away cash anonymously | News reports confirm Larry Stewart's giving from 1979 to 2006 | It was charity, not a gift exchange, and started too late |
We found no source that documents the first use of the English name “Secret Santa”, so we haven't dated it here. What the sources do show is that the ingredients (anonymous giving, a draw, a disguise, a rhyme) each turn up in several places. How, or whether, they fed into today's office game is undocumented, so treat any source that names a single ancestor with caution.
When do people exchange gifts, and how much do they spend?
Most draws land in the weeks before Christmas, but several countries have gift days of their own nearby, and spending norms differ by place and by group. Neither should be assumed in a mixed group.
Gift days that can clash with your date
| Date | Where | What to know |
|---|---|---|
| December 5 | Netherlands | Sinterklaas evening: a natural date for a Dutch exchange |
| December 6 | Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Poland | St. Nicholas Day (Nikolaus, Mikołajki) is a gift day: an early date, or one to avoid |
| December 24 and 25 | Most Christmas-celebrating countries | Family time: hold the exchange before, not on, these days |
| January 6 | Spain, Italy | Reyes Magos and the Befana are traditional gift days, separate from your exchange |
| January 7 | Many Orthodox churches | Orthodox Christmas: check availability before choosing early January |
| Varies each year | Worldwide | Hanukkah moves around the calendar: look up this year's dates |
What local guides suggest for the limit
| Where | A range you'll see | Where the number comes from |
|---|---|---|
| United States (offices) | $15-$25 | A common convention, not survey data |
| Ireland | €10-€15 | HR Headquarters, an Irish HR advice site |
| Australia | $10 or $20 (Australian dollars) | Ai Group, an employers' body, as a guide |
| Germany (colleagues) | €10-€15 | Karrierebibel, a German career site |
| Austria | €5-€20, or €3-€5 in school classes | Regionalsuche, an Austrian Wichteln guide |
| France | Up to about €15; one guide says €15-€30 | Darty and Sephora guides say €15 at most; Paris Zigzag is higher |
| Italy | €10-€25 | Euronews, Italian edition, as a general range |
Each number is one source's suggestion, not survey data, and none is a rule. French guides disagree with one another, so treat that row as a spread, not a norm. The Italian figure comes from Euronews's Italian edition, which gives it as the usual limit. Don't convert currencies and hope for the best: pick one amount in one currency, and read how much to spend on Secret Santa if your group needs help choosing it.
How do you run a Secret Santa across countries?
Settle the game, the limit and its currency, the date and who covers shipping in writing before the draw. Then draw by email, which works wherever people live, and let the anonymous chat handle addresses and sizes.
- 1Define the game in one line. “Everyone draws one person and buys one gift” keeps a Wichteln fan and a Kris Kringle fan from picturing different evenings. Mention any swap-game finale up front.
- 2Choose one amount in one currency. Say whether tax and shipping count, treat it as a ceiling, and add a rounded conversion for anyone paying in another currency.
- 3Pick a date that avoids local gift days. Check the table above: Hanukkah moves each year, and some Orthodox churches keep Christmas on January 7.
- 4Draw three to four weeks ahead if parcels cross a border. Ship at least a week before the exchange, two weeks before if the parcel crosses a border. Customs can add days you can't predict.
- 5Put the essentials in two languages if your group needs it. The draw emails follow the organizer's language on the site, so post the translation in your group chat.
- 6Use the anonymous chat for addresses, sizes and allergies. Recipients share an address only if they want to. The chat sends no notifications, so ask everyone to check their link every few days.
- 7Check the gift against the recipient's place. Plugs and voltage differ, gift cards are often country-specific, and food, alcohol and plants can be restricted at borders.
Here is a group message to paste into the event details. As written it is under the 500-character limit, so recheck the count after filling in the brackets, and post any translation in the group chat instead.
Group message for a mixed-country draw
Welcome to our Secret Santa! You'll get one name by email. Buy one gift for that person, up to 20 USD, roughly 18 EUR, tax included, shipping counts / doesn't count. If your parcel has to cross a border, send it by ship-by date so it arrives before we open everything on exchange date. Skip religious items and alcohol unless your match asked for them. Your chat link lets you ask for sizes, allergies or an address anonymously. It sends no alerts, so check it every few days.
To run the draw itself, a free online Secret Santa generator needs only a name and an email address per person, with no sign-up or app download, so a cousin in Lisbon and a colleague in Toronto join the same way. It works in English, Italian, French, German and Spanish, so pick the language most of your group reads before you press send. Budget and date go in the event details, so they appear in every email, and the organizer never sees the pairs.
Shipping, customs and call etiquette get their own treatment in the guide to hosting a virtual Secret Santa, and how to draw names for Secret Santa compares the hat, spreadsheet and app ways to do the draw.
So what should your group call it?
Use whichever name most people already say, and define it in one sentence in the invitation. Kris Kringle, classic Wichteln, amigo invisible and Secret Santa are the same name-draw game under different names. What actually causes awkward evenings is a mismatch on the date, the limit or the kind of gift, and once those are settled the name is just a label.
Here is a definition short enough to paste above the rules, whatever language the invitation is in.
One-line definition to paste
In this group, Secret Santa means everyone draws one name, buys one gift for that person up to amount and currency, and keeps quiet about who drew whom until exchange date. Call it Kris Kringle, Wichteln or amigo invisible if you like: it's the same game.
Drop it into the event details when you draw names online for free, and it lands in every participant's email.
Frequently Asked Questions
5Kris Kringle is the usual name for Secret Santa in Australia, New Zealand and Ireland, and in Ireland it is often spelled Kris Kindle. The rules are the same: draw a name, buy one gift, stay anonymous. Because it is so often played at work, local guidance tends to stress a clear spending limit and optional participation.
Wichteln is the German-language Secret Santa, named after the Wichtel, a small helper from folklore who works unseen. Schrottwichteln is the gag version: nobody is assigned a person, and everyone swaps deliberately useless or unwanted items for laughs. Check which one you have been invited to.
Yes, all three mean Secret Santa, and the choice is regional habit rather than a different game. Spain says amigo invisible, much of Latin America says amigo secreto, and in Portuguese-speaking Brazil you will hear amigo secreto and amigo oculto. Follow whatever your group says.
Nobody knows. Theories point to the Swedish julklapp custom and to a Venezuelan game called compadre de papelito, with the Dutch Sinterklaas draw as a close cousin. None is confirmed. The Kansas City “Secret Santa” who handed out cash from 1979 ran an anonymous charity tradition, not a gift exchange.
Yes. Agree on one currency for the limit, say whether shipping counts, and pick an exchange date that avoids local gift days. If parcels cross borders, start the draw three to four weeks out. An online draw only needs an email address per person, so where people live doesn't matter.
