Kris Kringle is one of the many nicknames attributed to supposedly fictional entity Santa Claus. My question is simple. Where did this name come from? How did it come to exist?
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3Sorry, but Santa is a real-world person which means that this question is off-topic. We're only interested in questions about fantasy; - Are questions about Santa Claus on topic? – Valorum Dec 25 '17 at 19:39
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3mythology.stackexchange.com might work for you. – FuzzyBoots Dec 25 '17 at 21:07
It's an Americanized pronunciation of Christkindl, meaning "Christ child" in southern German. In southern Germany, Austria, and Switzerland, it is conventionally believed that the baby Jesus brings presents, not a Santa Claus or Father Christmas character. Due to confusion over who was bringing the gifts, the Kris Kringle name got attached to Santa in North America.