Who Really Named Santa's Reindeer?

Up until 1823, as far as the general public knew, Santa really didn't have a single reindeer nor a sleigh to dash anywhere in. The names Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Comet and Cupid first came to the public attention when a poem entitled "A Visit from Saint Nicholas" was published in the December 23, 1823 edition of the Troy Sentinel (New York). The poem was submitted anonymously, and for many years, no one knew who the author really was. The poem became commonly known as "The Night Before Christmas".

An original excerpt from the poem named the reindeer a little differently then we know them today and as a matter of fact, there were only 6 reindeer - not 8:

"Now! Dasher, now! Dancer, now!
Prancer, and Vixen,
On! Comet, on! Cupid, on!
Dunder and Blixem;

Dunder and Blixem is a Dutch expression that literally means "thunder and lightning", but was loosely used to express a need to speed things up. The words weren't meant to name 2 more reindeer - they were actually a directive to Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Comet, and Cupid, on a very busy night.

In 1837, a publisher named Charles Fenno Hoffman altered the verse to read "Donder and Blixen" to make it rhyme better with Vixen. At this time, he credited authorship to Professor Clement Clarke Moore of New York's General Theological Seminary. Seven years later, Clement Clarke Moore changed the Dutch words to the German "Donner and Blitzen" ("thunder and lightning"), and since many had thought there were 8 tiny reindeer all along, these became accepted as two more reindeer in Santa's crew.

Descendants of a gentleman named Henry Livingston have made claims that Mr. Livingston was the true author of "A Visit from St. Nicholas". Text analyst, Donald W. Foster, supported this claim. More information on the topic is in his Foster's "Author Unknown: Tales of a Literary Detective." It is often noted that Livingston himself never claimed authorship during his lifetime. He died 5 years after the poem was published.