Share multilingual goodwill with our translation of various greetings for the Christmas holiday.
With December firmly upon us, many around the world are preparing for Christmas Day on 25 December. In fact, as this map shows, the bulk of the countries in the world mark Christmas with some kind of holiday:
Map: by Nanib via Wikimedia Commons
So to bring seasons greetings, here is our roundup of some Merry Christmas translations:
Merry Christmas Chinese translation
The Chinese translation for Merry Christmas is:
圣诞快乐
(Simplified Chinese)
聖誕快樂
(Traditional Chinese)
If you prefer to wish “Season’s Greetings” or “Happy holidays”, Chinese equivalents are:
节日的祝贺
(Simplified Chinese)
節日的祝賀
(Traditional Chinese)
Reuse the Simplified Chinese above on your website or blog with this html*
Reuse the Traditional Chinese above on your website or blog with this html*
Not sure about the difference between Traditional and Simplified Chinese? We explain in our guide to translation jargon.
Merry Christmas Danish translation
Watched too much of The Killing this Christmas, or just want to impress your friends from Denmark? The Danish translation for Merry Christmas is:
Glædelig jul
Reuse this graphic on your website or blog with this html:*
Merry Christmas Dutch translation
The Dutch translation for Merry Christmas is:
Gelukkig Kerstfeest
If you prefer to wish “Season’s Greetings” or “Happy holidays”, a Dutch equivalent is:
Beste Wensen
Reuse this graphic on your website or blog with this html*
Merry Christmas Finnish translation
The Finnish translation for Merry Christmas is:
Hauskaa joulua
Reuse this graphic on your website or blog with this html*
Merry Christmas French translation
The French translation for Merry Christmas is:
Joyeux Noël
If you prefer to wish “Season’s Greetings”, a French equivalent is:
Meilleurs vœux
Reuse this graphic on your website or blog with this html*
Merry Christmas German translation
The German translation for Merry Christmas is:
Frohe Weihnachten
If you prefer to wish “Seasons Greeting’s” or “Happy holidays”, a German equivalent is:
Fröhliche Feiertage!
Reuse this graphic on your website or blog with this html*
Merry Christmas Hungarian translation
The Hungarian translation for Merry Christmas is:
Kellemes Karácsonyi ünnepeket
(this is the common phrase for cards and so on, although it means wish you a Merry Christmas so you can just use “Kellemes Karácsonyt” if short of space)
Reuse this graphic on your website or blog with this html*
Merry Christmas Irish Gaelic translation
The Irish Gaelic translation for Merry Christmas is:
Nollaig Shona Duit (singluar)
Nollaig Shona Daoibh (plural)
Reuse this graphic on your website or blog with this html*
Merry Christmas Italian translation
The Italian translation for Merry Christmas is:
Buon Natale
If you prefer to wish “Season’s Greetings” or “Happy holidays”, an Italian equivalent is:
Buone Feste
Reuse this graphic on your website or blog with this html*
Merry Christmas Japanese translation
If making a Christmas greeting, many Japanese people will use a transliteration of the English:
メリークリスマス
Reuse this graphic on your website or blog with this html*
Merry Christmas Polish translation
In Polish, your Christmas greeting could be:
Wesołych Świąt
This phrase is also used at Easter in Poland.
Reuse this graphic on your website or blog with this html*
Merry Christmas Portuguese translation
The Portuguese translation for Merry Christmas is:
Feliz Natal
If you prefer to wish “Season’s Greetings” or “Happy holidays”, a Portuguese equivalent is:
Boas Festas
These Portuguese Christmas translations are suitable for both Portugual and Brazil. You can listen to Merry Christmas in Portuguese [mp3 via omniglot.com]
Reuse this graphic on your website or blog with this html*
Merry Christmas Russian translation
The Russian translation for Merry Christmas is:
С Рождеством Христовым!
or
С Рождеством!
Listen to Merry Christmas in Russian [mp3 via omniglot.com].
If you prefer to wish “Season’s Greetings” or “Happy holidays”, a Russian equivalent is:
С Праздником!
NB Many Russians celebrate Christmas on 7 January, in line with the Julian calendar. You can read more about this, and other Christmas day variations, in Wikipedia’s Christmas worldwide
Reuse this graphic on your website or blog with this html*
Merry Christmas Spanish translation
The Spanish translation for Merry Christmas is:
Feliz Navidad
If you prefer to wish “Season’s Greetings”, a Spanish equivalent is:
Felices fiestas
These Spanish Christmas translations are suitable for both Spain and Latin America.
Reuse this graphic on your website or blog with this html*
Merry Christmas Swedish translation
To get a little bit Wallander this Christmas, the Swedish translation for Merry Christmas is:
God Jul
Reuse this graphic on your website or blog with this html*
Merry Christmas Welsh translation
The Welsh translation for Merry Christmas is:
Nadolig Llawen
If you prefer to wish “Season’s Greetings” or “Happy holidays”, a Welsh equivalent is:
Cyfarchion y tymor
Reuse this graphic on your website or blog with this html*
More?
Of course, this is just a few of the world’s languages. How do you send your Christmas greetings and what would you like to see added to our list?
* Merry Christmas translation graphics are published under Creative Commons license (CC BY 2.0 UK). You are free to use the graphics, but must link to this site (as in the html above) or otherwise credit this site.
Thank you so much this is going up in a children’s center in Lancaster, California. We are about 50 miles north of Los Angeles. This is Special Education Center. This will be a fun new lesson.
CV HP.
Hi Carrie. That’s great, so glad you’re putting this to such a good use!
No clue, where you picked up the strange german phrase, but it is wrong. Nobody would say something like this in proper German as “Saison” has a different connotation and refers e.g. to vaccation – and not public holiday, e.g. Skissaison. Food can also be in “Saison” – e.g. Erdbeersaison (strawberry season), Spargelsaison (aspargus season).
If you would like to wish “Happy Holidays”, you better say “Frohe/ Fröhliche Feiertage!” or “Frohes Fest!”.
@Sandra, thanks for your feedback. You are quite right, the German translator seems to have somewhat missed the point here… and context is all in translation. We have discussed your suggestions with some other German speakers who agree and have duly updated. As an aside, it is interesting the English phrase does not have a totally uncontroversial past: meaning of Season’s Greetings
You provided such a useful tool. it will be helpful for us.
thank you.
Catalan:
Merry Christmas –> Bon Nadal
Happy holidays –> Bones vacances
Gràcies, Neus