Ranked by real searches, not opinion
The 20 most popular Christmas carols
Every December millions of Americans look up the words to the same few carols. Here they are in order — with who wrote each one, the story behind it, and what those puzzling old words actually mean.
The ranking
US Google searches for each carol's lyrics in December 2025.
- 1Silent Night1818 · Oberndorf, Austria550,000
- 2Jingle Bells1857 · Boston, Massachusetts450,000
- 3Joy to the World1719 · England; tune from Boston368,000
- 4O Holy Night1847 · Roquemaure, France301,000
- 5Hark! The Herald Angels Sing1739 · England246,000
- 6Deck the Halls1862 · Wales; English words from Scotland165,000
- 7We Wish You a Merry Christmas1935 · West of England165,000
- 8O Come, All Ye Faithful1743 · England / France (Latin hymn)135,000
- 9Away in a Manger1885 · Pennsylvania, USA135,000
- 10Go Tell It on the Mountain1907 · Southern United States110,000
- 11O Come, O Come, Emmanuel1851 · Latin church tradition110,000
- 12The First Noel1833 · Cornwall, England90,500
- 13God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen1760 · London, England90,500
- 14Angels We Have Heard on High1862 · France; English words from England90,500
- 15We Three Kings1857 · New York City, USA74,000
- 16Up on the Housetop1864 · Ohio, USA60,500
- 17O Little Town of Bethlehem1868 · Philadelphia, USA49,500
- 18Good King Wenceslas1853 · England; tune from Finland/Sweden49,500
- 19It Came Upon the Midnight Clear1849 · Wayland, Massachusetts, USA40,500
- 20O Christmas Tree1824 · Leipzig, Germany40,500
Best carols for kids
Short lines, easy tunes, no notes that are too high.
- Silent NightA young priest, Joseph Mohr, wrote the German poem in 1816.
- Jingle BellsJames Lord Pierpont copyrighted it on September 16, 1857, under the title "The One Horse Open Sleigh".
- Deck the HallsThe tune is a Welsh New Year's Eve song, "Nos Galan", going back to the 1500s.
- We Wish You a Merry ChristmasIt comes from the old English custom of wassailing, when carolers went door to door and wealthier neighbours rewarded them with food and drink — hence the singers' cheeky demand for pudding and refusal to leave until they get some..
- Away in a MangerIt was long called "Luther's Cradle Hymn", as if Martin Luther wrote it for his children — but that was a 19th-century invention.
- We Three KingsJohn Henry Hopkins Jr.
- Up on the HousetopBenjamin Hanby, a pastor's son from Ohio, wrote it in 1864.
- O Christmas TreeThe original German folk song wasn't about Christmas: it praised the fir tree for staying green all year, as a symbol of faithfulness.
Best carols for caroling door to door
Songs your neighbors know and can join in on.
- Silent NightA young priest, Joseph Mohr, wrote the German poem in 1816.
- Jingle BellsJames Lord Pierpont copyrighted it on September 16, 1857, under the title "The One Horse Open Sleigh".
- Joy to the WorldThe English minister Isaac Watts wrote it in 1719 as a paraphrase of Psalm 98.
- Hark! The Herald Angels SingCharles Wesley, brother of Methodism's founder John Wesley, wrote the hymn in 1739 with a very different first line about the sky ringing out.
- Deck the HallsThe tune is a Welsh New Year's Eve song, "Nos Galan", going back to the 1500s.
- We Wish You a Merry ChristmasIt comes from the old English custom of wassailing, when carolers went door to door and wealthier neighbours rewarded them with food and drink — hence the singers' cheeky demand for pudding and refusal to leave until they get some..
- O Come, All Ye FaithfulThe Latin hymn "Adeste Fideles" survives in manuscripts copied by John Francis Wade, an English Catholic living in France in the 1740s; whether he wrote it or copied an older hymn is still debated..
- Away in a MangerIt was long called "Luther's Cradle Hymn", as if Martin Luther wrote it for his children — but that was a 19th-century invention.
- Go Tell It on the MountainAn African-American spiritual from the oral tradition, sung long before it was written down.
- The First NoelA folk carol from Cornwall, in England's far south-west, sung long before anyone wrote it down.
- God Rest Ye Merry, GentlemenOne of the oldest carols still widely sung, it was a street song in London long before it appeared in print in the late 1700s..
- Angels We Have Heard on HighIt began as a French carol, "Les Anges dans nos campagnes" ("The angels in our countryside").
- We Three KingsJohn Henry Hopkins Jr.
- Up on the HousetopBenjamin Hanby, a pastor's son from Ohio, wrote it in 1864.
- O Little Town of BethlehemThe Philadelphia pastor Phillips Brooks rode on horseback from Jerusalem to Bethlehem on Christmas Eve 1865 and looked down on the town at night.
- Good King WenceslasIt tells the story of Wenceslaus, a 10th-century Duke of Bohemia (now the Czech Republic), who trudges through the snow with his page on the day after Christmas to bring food and firewood to a poor man.
- It Came Upon the Midnight ClearEdmund Sears, a Unitarian pastor in Wayland, Massachusetts, wrote it in 1849, just after the Mexican–American War.
- O Christmas TreeThe original German folk song wasn't about Christmas: it praised the fir tree for staying green all year, as a symbol of faithfulness.
Carols for church and choir
The sacred carols of Christmas services.
- Silent NightA young priest, Joseph Mohr, wrote the German poem in 1816.
- Joy to the WorldThe English minister Isaac Watts wrote it in 1719 as a paraphrase of Psalm 98.
- O Holy NightA parish priest in the French town of Roquemaure asked a local wine merchant and poet, Placide Cappeau, for a Christmas poem to celebrate the church's restored organ.
- Hark! The Herald Angels SingCharles Wesley, brother of Methodism's founder John Wesley, wrote the hymn in 1739 with a very different first line about the sky ringing out.
- O Come, All Ye FaithfulThe Latin hymn "Adeste Fideles" survives in manuscripts copied by John Francis Wade, an English Catholic living in France in the 1740s; whether he wrote it or copied an older hymn is still debated..
- Away in a MangerIt was long called "Luther's Cradle Hymn", as if Martin Luther wrote it for his children — but that was a 19th-century invention.
- Go Tell It on the MountainAn African-American spiritual from the oral tradition, sung long before it was written down.
- O Come, O Come, EmmanuelIt's an Advent hymn rather than a Christmas one: its verses come from the "O Antiphons", short Latin chants sung in the last seven days before Christmas since at least the 8th century..
- The First NoelA folk carol from Cornwall, in England's far south-west, sung long before anyone wrote it down.
- God Rest Ye Merry, GentlemenOne of the oldest carols still widely sung, it was a street song in London long before it appeared in print in the late 1700s..
- Angels We Have Heard on HighIt began as a French carol, "Les Anges dans nos campagnes" ("The angels in our countryside").
- We Three KingsJohn Henry Hopkins Jr.
- O Little Town of BethlehemThe Philadelphia pastor Phillips Brooks rode on horseback from Jerusalem to Bethlehem on Christmas Eve 1865 and looked down on the town at night.
- Good King WenceslasIt tells the story of Wenceslaus, a 10th-century Duke of Bohemia (now the Czech Republic), who trudges through the snow with his page on the day after Christmas to bring food and firewood to a poor man.
- It Came Upon the Midnight ClearEdmund Sears, a Unitarian pastor in Wayland, Massachusetts, wrote it in 1849, just after the Mexican–American War.
Going caroling?
How to get a group together, which songs everyone actually knows, how not to leave your neighbors freezing at an open door — plus a free printable “carolers are coming” door-hanger.
The caroling guide →Questions
- What are the 10 most popular Christmas carols?
- By how often Americans search for the words each December: Silent Night, Jingle Bells, Joy to the World, O Holy Night, Hark! The Herald Angels Sing, Deck the Halls, We Wish You a Merry Christmas, O Come, All Ye Faithful, Away in a Manger, Go Tell It on the Mountain.
- What is the oldest Christmas carol still sung?
- Of the carols in this list, the oldest are the medieval Latin "O Come, O Come, Emmanuel" (its chants go back to at least the 8th century) and the English street carol "God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen". The oldest text in the list with a known author and date is Isaac Watts's "Joy to the World", from 1719.
- Is "Jingle Bells" a Christmas carol?
- Not originally. James Lord Pierpont published it in 1857 as "The One Horse Open Sleigh", a winter song about sleigh racing. It became a Christmas song decades later.
- What's the difference between a carol and a Christmas song?
- A carol is a traditional song of celebration, usually folk or sacred and centuries old, meant to be sung together. "Christmas songs" also include 20th-century pop hits like "Rudolph" or "White Christmas", which are still under copyright.