What Are Santa's 9 Reindeer Called?

What are Santas nine (9) reindeer called? Santa’s reindeer are:

• Dasher
• Dancer
• Prancer
• Vixen
• Comet
• Cupid
• Donder
• Blitzen
• Rudolph

Read on to find out who named Santa's reindeers.

Originally, there were eight reindeer. These were named in the poem, “A Visit from Saint Nicholas" which is commonly referred to as “Twas the Night Before Christmas”, written by Clement Clarke Moore in 1823. Here is a section from that poem which names the reindeer.

With a little old driver, so lively and quick, I knew in a moment it must be St. Nick. More rapid than eagles, his courses they came, and he whistled and shouted and called them by name: 

'Now Dasher! Now Dancer! Now, Prancer and Vixen! On, Comet! On, Cupid! On, Donder and Blitzen! To the top of the porch! To the top of the wall! Now dash away! Dash away! Dash away all!’

The ninth reindeer’s name is Rudolph. He was the star of a story written in 1939 by Robert L. May. Let’s look at the story behind the story for both Moore and May.  

Origins of the Reindeer

Clement Clarke Moore (1779 - 1863) wrote his famous poem in 1822.  It solidified the tradition of a sleigh and eight magical reindeer that could fly.  The story was sent to the New York Sentinel by a family friend, Miss H. Butler, and it was published on December 23, 1823.  It was published anonymously and was a huge success.  In 1844, Moore included the poem in a book of his poetry and then everyone knew that he was the author.  Now, the reading of this lovely poem is a Christmas tradition around the world. 

Story of Rudolph

Montgomery Ward in Chicago had the tradition of giving children Christmas coloring books. In 1939, they wanted something different and asked Robert L. May, who was a copywriter for them, to write a Christmas story.

He thought about the story of the Ugly Duckling and his own childhood, during which he was picked on because he was small, and came up with the story of Rudolph. He made Rudolph different with the physical deformity of a bright red nose and the subject of teasing from the other reindeer.

In the original story, Santa delivered gifts to the little reindeer before taking off, and when he was at Rudolph’s home, a fog rolled in. Rudolph saves the day and the poem ends like this:

"By YOU last night's journey was actually bossed. Without you, I'm certain we'd all have been lost!"

Over 2.4 million copies of the story book were distributed that first year.  Soon a song was created by Robert’s brother-in-law, Johnny Marks.  A cartoon was produced in 1944, with the song being added to it in 1948.   

Donder vs. Donner

Some think that one of Santa's nine reindeer was called Donder, not Donner. Here is what happened:

• In the original poem “A Visit from Saint Nicholas" Mr. Moore named the last two reindeer Donder and Blitzen.
• In 1939, Mr. May erroneously called him Donner and the name stuck, partly due to a recording 10 years later by Gene Autry of “Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer” where it was sung as Donner.
• Mr. May could have been confused because the words “donner” and “blitzen” mean “thunder” and “lightning” in German.

So his correct name is Donder.       

Santa in Other Countries

Santa Claus is known in other countries as St. Nicholas, St. Nick, Sinterklaas, and Father Christmas. Before the sleigh and the reindeer, he delivered presents in Europe on a white horse and in South America on a donkey.