The date of commemoration is not known to be Jesus' actual birthday, and may have initially been chosen to correspond with either a historical Roman festival or the winter solstice. Christmas Day marks the beginning of the larger season of Christmastide, which lasts twelve days.

Modern customs of the holiday include gift-giving, church celebrations, the exchange of cards, and the display of various decorations—including the Christmas tree, lights, mistletoe, nativity scenes, and holly. Santa Claus/Father Christmas, although the two figures have different origins, is a popular mythological figure often associated with bringing gifts at Christmas for children.

Santa is generally believed to be the result of a concretization between Saint Nicholas and elements from pagan Nordic and Christian mythology, and his modern appearance is believed to have originated in 19th century media. Celebrating Christmas is mainly throughout the Christian population, also celebrated by many non-Christians as a secular, cultural festival. Because gift giving and several other aspects of the holiday involve heightened economic activity among both Christians and non-Christians, Christmas has become a major event for many retailers.

The concept of exchanging gifts on christmas is generally origintated from the three traveling wise men, these travelers passed buy when Jesus was born and each gave Joseph and Mary a gift (Mary is the mother of Jesus; Joseph is her fiance). Thus this is where the tradition of giving gifts on christams is derived from.