What is the Name of Christmas in Greece?

Christmas in Greece brings lots of Reader Questions to my About Greece Travel mailbox. Along with the queries about Greek Christmas customs, the meaning of Christmas basil, Greek Christmas cookie recipes and the schedule for Christmas celebrations in Athens, the most frequent question is What is the name of Christmas in Greece? AND How do you say Merry Christmas in Greek?

The Greek name for Christmas is Christougena - literally Christ's birth. When Greeks say Merry Christmas, they say Kala Christougena - Merry Christmas. You can hear Merry Christmas and other phrases spoken; the apparent "g" sound is pronounced like a "y".

Around the holidays, you will also hear Chronia Polla - "Happy New Year", literally "Many years", a wish for long life and happy years to come.

The more formal New Year's greeting is a tongue twister: Eftikismenos o kenourisos kronos - Happy New Year.

Greek has also had an impact on the written abbreviation of Christmas, Xmas. While this is sometimes considered a disrespectful way of writing it, for the Greeks it is a way of writing the word using the cross symbolized by the "X", so it is considered to be a perfectly respectful way of writing Christmas rather than a casual abbreviation.

More on Christmas in Greece:

Send a free Greek Orthodox St Nikolaos Or Christmas Card
Find out: Was Santa Greek?
Christmas in Athens, Greece Picture Gallery
See what Christmas on the Greek Island of Antiparos looks like.

Planning a Christmas trip to Greece?
Find and compare hotel rates at many locations in Greece: Hotels in Greece

Compare airfares to Greece here: Find Greek Airfares