Name: Mrs. Claus's gingerbread cookies
Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 10 min
Total time: 2 h 30 min
Yield: 24 cookies
Cuisine: American
Ingredients: 3 cups all-purpose flour (360 g); 1 tbsp ground ginger; 1½ tsp ground cinnamon; ¼ tsp ground cloves; ¾ tsp baking soda; ½ tsp salt; ¾ cup unsalted butter, softened (1½ sticks, 170 g); ¾ cup dark brown sugar, packed (160 g); ½ cup molasses, not blackstrap (170 g); 1 large egg; 1 tsp vanilla extract

What is Mrs. Claus’s first name?

There isn’t one official answer. Santa’s wife started out in the 1800s as plain Mrs. Santa Claus, and every storyteller since has been free to pick a name. Ask around and many people will say Jessica. In the Rankin/Bass special Santa Claus Is Comin’ to Town, first shown on ABC on December 13, 1970, young Kris Kringle meets a schoolteacher called Miss Jessica and marries her, and the two head to the North Pole to set up a toy workshop.

Films kept making up new names. She is Anya in Santa Claus: The Movie (1985), Anna in the 1996 TV musical Mrs. Santa Claus with Angela Lansbury, and Carol in The Santa Clause 2 (2002). Books do the same: Jeff Guinn’s The Autobiography of Santa Claus (1994) calls her Layla. So at a holiday quiz, the honest answer is that it depends on the story.

Mrs. Claus, with white hair in a bun and round glasses, carries a tray of star-shaped gingerbread cookies and peppermint lollipops past a wood stove and copper pots — Mrs. Claus in her North Pole kitchen, with a fresh tray of gingerbread stars.

Mrs. Claus’s first names, story by story
Name	Where she has it	Year	Who she is there
Goody Santa Claus	“Goody Santa Claus on a Sleigh Ride”, a poem by Katharine Lee Bates	1889	“Goody” is short for Goodwife, an old way of saying Mrs., so it is more a title than a name. She rides along on Christmas Eve.
Jessica	Santa Claus Is Comin’ to Town, the Rankin/Bass TV special (ABC)	1970	Miss Jessica, a schoolteacher in Sombertown who marries Kris Kringle.
Anya	Santa Claus: The Movie	1985	Anya Claus, played by Judy Cornwell.
Mary Christmas	It’s Christmastime Again, Charlie Brown (CBS)	1992	Charlie Brown tells Sally that some people call Santa’s wife Mary Christmas, so Sally writes her a letter.
Layla	The Autobiography of Santa Claus, a book by Jeff Guinn	1994	Santa’s wife, who gets a chapter of her own.
Anna	Mrs. Santa Claus, a TV musical (CBS)	1996	Anna Claus, played by Angela Lansbury, who takes the sleigh to New York.
Carol	The Santa Clause 2	2002	Principal Carol Newman (Elizabeth Mitchell), who marries Scott Calvin, the new Santa.
Annette	Fred Claus	2007	Annette Claus, played by Miranda Richardson.
Margaret	Arthur Christmas	2011	Margaret Claus, voiced by Imelda Staunton, mother of Arthur.
Annalina	Annalina, a children’s book by Adam Greenwood	2013	The girl who grows up to become Mrs. Claus. (2013 is the year of the print edition.)

Some websites also list Martha or Gertrude. We could not find a story that uses either name, so they are not in the table. “Mary Claus” and “Mary Christmas” are nicknames, a play on “Merry Christmas”.

When did Mrs. Claus first appear in print?

The first known Mrs. Claus is only a disguise. In “A Christmas Legend”, a short story by Philadelphia writer James Rees published in 1849, an old couple with bundles on their backs is taken in on Christmas Eve and seems to be Santa Claus and his wife. The next morning they turn out to be the family’s long-lost daughter and her husband.

The name itself turns up in December 1851, when a student piece in the Yale Literary Magazine mentions Mrs. Santa Claus helping Santa dress for Christmas. In the 1878 book Lill’s Travels in Santa Claus Land, a lady at a golden desk writes in a large book while Santa reports on children, and Lill’s sister Effie wonders whether the lady is Mrs. Santa Claus. Then, in 1889, Katharine Lee Bates, who later wrote the words to “America the Beautiful”, gave her a whole poem, told in her own voice.

1849: “A Christmas Legend” by James Rees: Santa’s wife appears, but as a disguise.
1851: Yale Literary Magazine: the first known use of the name Mrs. Santa Claus.
1878: Lill’s Travels in Santa Claus Land: a lady keeps Santa’s big book.
1887: E. C. Gardner’s essay in Good Housekeeping: she explains how to plan a kitchen.
1889: “Goody Santa Claus on a Sleigh Ride” by Katharine Lee Bates: she rides along on Christmas Eve.

A poem from 1889

Goody Santa Claus on a Sleigh Ride

by Katharine Lee Bates

“Merry Christmas, little people!”

In the last verse, as the children wake on Christmas morning, Goody calls out to them. The whole poem is told in her own voice.

How did Mrs. Claus go from the kitchen to the workshop?

For her first 40 years in print, Mrs. Claus mostly stayed in the background. An 1887 essay put her in the kitchen, lecturing about how a good one should be laid out. Two years later, Bates’s Goody asked for a seat on the sleigh, and from then on the stories kept handing her more of the job.

Through the 20th century, several stories had her take the sleigh herself while Santa slept or was sick. In Phyllis McGinley’s 1963 book, Santa oversleeps and she hands out the presents, with a few mix-ups. The 1970 TV special went further: Jessica is there from the very start, when she and Kris head to the North Pole to set up a toy workshop. By 2002, The Santa Clause 2 made finding a Mrs. Claus part of Santa’s contract. In many newer stories she helps run the workshop as well as the kitchen. Here is how it happened, story by story.

Elves in green and red build wooden trains, teddy bears and a rocking horse along a conveyor belt in Santa’s workshop — In the 1970 special, Jessica and Kris head to the North Pole to set up a toy workshop.

1887
In the kitchen
In E. C. Gardner’s essay “A Hickory Back-Log”, she lectures the narrator on how a good kitchen should be planned.
1889
On the sleigh
Katharine Lee Bates’s Goody holds the reindeer on the rooftops and mends a child’s torn stocking with an icicle needle.
1914
At the reins
In Bell Elliott Palmer’s play Mrs. Santa Claus, Militant, she is tired of dressing dolls while Santa gets the thanks, so she takes the sleigh while he sleeps.
1963
Saving Christmas
In Phyllis McGinley’s How Mrs. Santa Claus Saved Christmas, Santa oversleeps, so she takes charge of the presents herself.
1970
In the workshop
Jessica marries Kris Kringle in Santa Claus Is Comin’ to Town, and they head to the North Pole to set up a toy workshop.
1974
Leading the search
In The Year Without a Santa Claus, she sends the elves Jingle and Jangle out to find Christmas spirit.
1996
Off to New York
Angela Lansbury’s Anna Claus takes the sleigh on a test run, lands in New York City and takes a job at a toy factory.
2002
Part of the deal
In The Santa Clause 2, Santa’s contract says he must find a Mrs. Claus, and Carol takes the role.
2023
On parade
Sheryl Lee Ralph rides the final float as the first celebrity Mrs. Claus in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade.

What does Mrs. Claus do at the North Pole?

In picture books and films today, Mrs. Claus is the one who keeps the North Pole running. Writers show her baking, keeping the elves on track and helping with the toys, and some stories hand her the reins outright. Her jobs grew one story at a time: a student writer in 1851 had her helping Santa dress, an 1878 book put a lady who may be her at a desk with Santa’s big book, and by 1914 she was dressing dolls for the sleigh. Many tellings now end with her filling Santa’s Thermos with cocoa and waving him off on Christmas Eve.

None of it is official, so every family’s version is a little different. In some homes she bakes the cookies left out for Santa; in others she checks the Nice List twice. These are the jobs that keep turning up, with the earliest story we found for each.

Kitchen since 1887
Head baker
Cookies for the workshop, and in some tellings a Thermos of cocoa for Santa’s long night.
Since 1974
Elf organizer
She keeps the elves on schedule. Atlas Obscura counts “elf-wrangling” among the things she is best known for.
Since 1889
Toy maker
She helps make and dress the toys. In 1889, Goody tends the fir trees where the toys grow; by 1914 she was dressing dolls and making candy bags.
Since 1878
Keeper of the big book
A lady at a golden desk writes down what Santa reports about each child.
Since 1851
Santa’s tailor
She helps Santa dress for his big night and mends what tears. Goody even darns a boy’s sock on the Christmas Eve ride.
Since 1914
Relief driver
When Santa is asleep, sick or hurt, stories hand her the sleigh.

At Hey Santa she has one more job: she keeps Santa’s phone line friendly. Her house rules for calling Santa are below.

Mrs. Claus’s gingerbread cookies

Gingerbread is the cookie on Mrs. Claus’s tray in our North Pole kitchen, so it gets the top spot in her tin. This is a classic rolled gingerbread: 3 cups of flour, ¾ cup of butter, ½ cup of molasses and a full tablespoon of ground ginger, so it bakes up spicy and holds its shape for icing. One batch makes about 24 gingerbread people with a 3½-inch cutter.

Plan on about 20 minutes of mixing, at least 2 hours of chilling, and 8 to 10 minutes per sheet in a 350°F (175°C) oven. The chill matters: cold dough rolls cleanly and keeps sharp arms and legs. Take the cookies out when the edges feel firm; the middles firm up as they cool. Rather bake sugar cookie stars, snickerdoodles, shortbread or chocolate crinkles? Pick one in the tin below and choose 12, 24 or 48 cookies.

A family at a candlelit table writes Christmas wish lists next to a plate of star-shaped gingerbread cookies and mugs of cocoa — Wish lists and a plate of gingerbread stars: a good night for baking.

Tips from the North Pole kitchen

Weigh the flour if you can. A cup scooped straight from the bag holds more flour than a cup spooned in and leveled. The tin shows grams, using 120 g for a cup of all-purpose flour.
Roll between parchment. You need less extra flour, so the cookies stay tender.
Bake one sheet at a time on the middle rack, and let the sheet cool before the next batch goes on.
Keep the icing simple. Stir 1 cup of powdered sugar with 1 to 2 tablespoons of milk until it pipes in a thick line for faces and buttons.
Halving an egg? Beat it in a cup and use half, about 25 g. The tin tells you when you need to.

Mrs. Claus’s house rules for calling Santa

Mrs. Claus keeps Santa’s phone line friendly for everyone, from little kids to grandparents. On Hey Santa, Santa is an AI video character who answers a live video call with Santa right in your browser, on a phone, tablet or computer, with no app. Kids call with a grown-up, and grown-ups can call for themselves. Santa hears you through the microphone, so no camera is needed. The five rules on the sampler are the ones Santa follows on every call.

Calls cost $1 a minute, in packs of 5, 10 or 20 minutes. After the call, every wish comes back as a list with real store prices and links. Not sure what to say? Start by asking Santa what Mrs. Claus is baking tonight. You can read how a call with Santa works, or see the house rules on the home page.

While you wait for Christmas, write a letter to Santa, meet Santa’s reindeer, learn where candy canes came from or explore the rest of the North Pole.

House rules

A grown-up runs the account.Every account belongs to someone 18 or older, who pays. Kids call with a grown-up.
No personal details.Santa never asks for a last name, address, school or phone number.
No promises he can’t keep.Santa will tell the elves. He never promises that a gift will come.
Kind words only.Santa keeps every chat kind and right for the caller’s age.
Nothing is recorded.Calls with Santa are not recorded.

Mrs. Claus questions

What is Santa’s wife’s name?

Mrs. Claus, and her first name changes from story to story. Jessica, from the 1970 TV special Santa Claus Is Comin’ to Town, is the one many people know. Other stories call her Anya, Anna, Carol, Layla, Annette, Margaret or Annalina.

Is Mrs. Claus’s name Mary?

Only as a nickname. “Mary Claus” and “Mary Christmas” are jokes on “Merry Christmas”. In the 1992 special It’s Christmastime Again, Charlie Brown, Charlie Brown tells Sally that some people call Santa’s wife Mary Christmas, and Sally writes her a letter.

What is Mrs. Claus’s name in The Santa Clause?

Carol. In The Santa Clause 2 (2002), school principal Carol Newman, played by Elizabeth Mitchell, marries Scott Calvin and becomes Mrs. Claus. The first film, from 1994, has no Mrs. Claus.

Who was the first Mrs. Claus?

The earliest known one is in James Rees’s 1849 story “A Christmas Legend”, where she turns out to be someone in disguise. She is first named Mrs. Santa Claus in the Yale Literary Magazine in December 1851, and Katharine Lee Bates’s 1889 poem is told in her own voice.

Did Saint Nicholas have a wife?

Not that anyone knows. Saint Nicholas was a bishop of Myra in the fourth century, and his legend grew into Santa Claus. The old stories about him do not mention a wife. Mrs. Claus came along much later, in American stories of the 1800s.

Can I talk to Mrs. Claus on Hey Santa?

The calls on Hey Santa are with Santa. You can ask him all about her, though, and about what she is baking this week.

How many cookies does this gingerbread recipe make?

About 24 gingerbread people with a 3½-inch cutter, rolled ¼ inch thick. Use the cookie tin above to scale it to 12 or 48.

Who is Mrs. Claus, and what is her first name?

What is Mrs. Claus’s first name?