In the Christmas stories, Santa keeps a naughty or nice list and checks it twice, and on this page every name lands on Nice. Type a first name, pick kid or grown-up, and an elf scrolls the list, stamps your name and writes a free Nice List certificate.
Updated by the Hey Santa elves
The story goes like this. Santa keeps one long list with every name on it, and next to each name, a note about how that person has been treating people. Before Christmas Eve he checks it twice, so nobody gets missed or mixed up. That checking-twice detail is best known from the 1934 song "Santa Claus Is Comin' to Town."
Elves do a lot of the paperwork. In the 2005 picture book The Elf on the Shelf, a scout elf watches the house during the day and flies back to the North Pole each night to report to Santa.
The elves at this office keep the paperwork and drop the worry. They look for one specific kind thing a person did, write it down and stamp the name Nice. Grown-ups get checked too, on the Grown-Up Nice List, where the notes tend to involve shopping carts and group chats. Counting the sleeps until the big night? The Christmas countdown has the exact number.
The idea is older than Santa's sleigh. St. Nicholas, a 4th-century bishop of Myra, became known for giving gifts in secret, and his feast day, December 6, is still a gift day in several European countries. Over the centuries, the customs around that feast came to reward good children and warn the naughty ones.
In 1821, a small New York booklet called The Children's Friend had "Old Santeclaus" bring presents to good girls and boys and leave a "long, black, birchen rod" for the rest. Fifty years later, the cartoonist Thomas Nast drew Santa at his desk for the front cover of Harper's Weekly on December 30, 1871, reading letters from the parents of naughty children and of good ones. Then, in November 1934, Eddie Cantor sang "Santa Claus Is Comin' to Town" on his radio show. Its list, checked twice, has been part of Christmas ever since.
A bishop of Myra, remembered for secret gifts. His feast day is December 6.
Old Santeclaus rides a reindeer sleigh and leaves gifts for good girls and boys only.
Thomas Nast's Harper's Weekly cover: Santa reads letters about naughty and good children.
J. Fred Coots and Haven Gillespie write "Santa Claus Is Comin' to Town." Santa makes a list and checks it twice.
A scout elf watches by day and reports to Santa each night.
Every name the elves check here goes on the Nice List, with a reason.
Before elves took over the paperwork, European folk stories had stern visitors who dealt with the naughty side of the list. In Austria and the German-speaking Alps, Krampus is a horned, furry figure who comes along with St. Nicholas on the night of December 5, called Krampusnacht. St. Nicholas hands out treats, and Krampus carries a bundle of birch switches. Today many Alpine towns hold a Krampuslauf, or Krampus run: a parade of carved wooden masks and clanging cowbells.
Belsnickel comes from the Palatinate in southwestern Germany, and German immigrants carried him to Pennsylvania, where Pennsylvania Dutch families kept the story going. His name is usually explained as "Nicholas in fur." He taps on the window a week or two before Christmas, asks the children to answer a question or sing a song, then scatters candy on the floor, keeping a switch for anyone who grabs too fast.
| Helper | Where the story comes from | When | What the story says |
|---|---|---|---|
| Krampus | Austria, Bavaria and the Alps | Night of December 5 | Walks with St. Nicholas. Treats for good children, birch switches for the rest. |
| Belsnickel | The Palatinate in Germany, then Pennsylvania | 1 to 2 weeks before Christmas | Asks for an answer or a song, then scatters candy. Carries a switch. |
| Sinterklaas | The Netherlands | Gift evening, December 5 | Carries a big red book that records whether each child was good or naughty that year. |
| La Befana | Italy | Night of January 5 | Candy for good children and coal for naughty ones. Today the coal is often black sugar candy. |
The elves here kept the candy and the big book, and left the switches in the old stories.
Use it to point at the good, not to warn about the bad. The CDC's guide for parents of toddlers and preschoolers calls this labeled praise: name the exact thing your child did, such as "I saw that you put your toys away!" instead of a general "Great job." The guide says labeled praise works best because the child knows exactly what you liked, and that rewards work best right after the behavior.
Then you are in the right place, because nobody is on a naughty list here. The North Pole List Office keeps one list, it has one column, and every name that gets checked lands in it.
For kids who feel worried after a hard day: in the old stories, the list was about choices, and every morning is a new page. A kind thing done today counts today. Tell a grown-up what you did, and they can write it on your certificate. Then put it in your letter to Santa, or find your elf name and sign it like an elf.
Grown-ups who suspect they slipped this year (the forgotten birthday, the parking lot, the group chat left on read) can switch to grown-up mode. That list is graded on kindness, not perfection, and the elves are generous markers.
Small ways onto any Nice List:
Yes, out loud. On a live video call with Santa, he answers in real time in your browser on a phone, tablet or computer, with no app. He hears you through the microphone, so no camera is needed. Kids call with a grown-up, and grown-ups can call for themselves. Ask about the list, ask which of Santa's reindeer is the fastest, then tell him what you are hoping for. After the call, the wishes come back as a wish list with real store prices and links.
This Santa is an AI video character. He follows child-safety rules: he never asks for personal details like a last name, address or school, and never promises that a gift will come. Calls are not recorded. A call costs $1 a minute, in packs of 5, 10 or 20 minutes. To compare every way to reach him, from phone lines to video, see how to call Santa.
Type your first name in the checker at the top of this page and the elves will look it up. Every name checked here comes back Nice, with a note about one kind thing and a certificate to print. To hear it from Santa himself, ask him on a live video call.
In the Christmas stories, yes: Santa keeps a list and checks it twice, the way the 1934 song tells it. The version on this page is the elves' Nice List, and every name checked here goes on it.
The song says he checks it twice before he comes to town, and in the stories he arrives on Christmas Eve. In 2026, Christmas Eve is Thursday, December 24, and Christmas Day is Friday, December 25.
Nobody is on it here. In the older stories the list was about choices, so a kind thing done today counts today.
Only in the old stories. In Italy, La Befana is said to leave coal for naughty children on the night of January 5, and today that coal is often black sugar candy. The elves here hand out certificates instead.
Yes. Checking the list, the certificate, the download and printing are all free, with no sign-up.
No. The name stays in your browser, where the certificate is drawn. Nothing is sent to us or stored.
Yes. Pick "A grown-up" and the elves use the Grown-Up Nice List, with notes like returning the shopping cart in the rain.
Live videoSanta answers live on a video call in your browser. Ask him about the Nice List, then tell him what you're wishing for. $1 a minute.
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