Christmas (surname)

Christmas is an uncommon English-language surname. The origin is uncertain; some genealogy books state that it was given to people born near Christmas, while this is disputed by researchers, and DNA tests performed on men with the surname show that the majority of those descend from a common ancestor. Others suggest it was given to people who organised Christmas festivities, or has a Norman origin. Most prominent in Southern England, various notable people from around the world have had the surname, and it has been given to a number of fictional characters. The William Faulkner character Joe Christmas, from Light in August, has a much-discussed name. The blood disorder Christmas disease or haemophilia B was first described in (and named for) a boy with the surname and is observed in other people of the name.