Oak table number sign engraved with 13, standard 74 x 112mm on a stepped wooden base, beside a wine glass for scale

Christmas Table Names: 100 Ideas for Christmas Parties, Work Dinners and Weddings

Christmas table names give each table a festive name instead of a bare number: Santa's reindeer, carols, Christmas food, winter words or the Twelve Days of Christmas. Pick one theme so guests can find their table, keep each name short enough to read across the room, and add a number if the venue works from a numbered plan.

Below: 100 Christmas table name ideas in nine themes, how to choose and order them, and what to put on the sign. We are an engraving workshop in Buckley, Flintshire, and we make engraved table number and table name signs for Christmas parties, work dinners and weddings.

How to choose Christmas table names

  • One theme per event. Guests looking for "Prancer" scan for reindeer. Mixing reindeer with carols and cities makes every table harder to find.
  • Short names read better. On the same size of sign, a short name can be engraved in bigger letters than a long one. "Holly" reads from further away than "Seven Swans a-Swimming".
  • Put the number on as well when the plan is numbered. If the venue or caterer has a numbered table plan, a number on each sign keeps staff and guests working from the same list.
  • No table should feel like the booby prize. Avoid names that rank or tease: "Naughty List", "Sprouts" and "Leftovers" are funny until someone is seated there. Give the top table a neutral name too.
  • Not everyone celebrates Christmas. For a mixed workplace, winter names such as Frost, Snowdrop and Northern Lights keep it seasonal without being religious.
  • List the names in table order on the seating plan at the entrance, so guests know where to head before they reach the room. Our guide to Christmas place settings and who sits where covers the plan and the place cards.
  • Leave the year off if the signs will come out again. "Dasher" works every Christmas; "Dasher 2026" only works once.

Names, numbers or both?

On the sign Works best for Watch out for
Number only Large dinners, award nights and venues that seat by a numbered plan Nothing festive about it
Name only Small parties where guests can see every table at once Harder to find a table in a big room
Number and name Most work parties and Christmas weddings: guests read the name, staff use the number Long names need the larger sign

The Twelve Days of Christmas, below, does both at once: each name already carries its number.

100 Christmas table name ideas

1. The Twelve Days of Christmas (12)

The earliest known printing of the words is in Mirth Without Mischief, a children's book published in London around 1780. The gifts below are the ones most sung today, from Frederic Austin's 1909 arrangement. The 1780 printing has "colly birds", meaning coal-black birds, on the fourth day, which Austin changed to "calling birds". For up to 12 tables, the song is the numbering.

Table Name Table Name
1 A Partridge in a Pear Tree 7 Seven Swans a-Swimming
2 Two Turtle Doves 8 Eight Maids a-Milking
3 Three French Hens 9 Nine Ladies Dancing
4 Four Calling Birds 10 Ten Lords a-Leaping
5 Five Gold Rings 11 Eleven Pipers Piping
6 Six Geese a-Laying 12 Twelve Drummers Drumming

These are long names. Put the number large and the gift beneath it, and choose the larger sign size.

2. Santa's reindeer (9)

Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Comet, Cupid, Donner, Blitzen and Rudolph.

The first eight come from "A Visit from St. Nicholas" ("'Twas the Night Before Christmas"), first published anonymously in the Troy Sentinel, New York, on 23 December 1823. There the last two were spelled "Dunder and Blixem". Rudolph came later: Robert L. May created him in 1939 for a Christmas booklet given out by the American department store Montgomery Ward. Nine reindeer suit a party of eight or nine tables.

3. Christmas carols (12)

Silent Night, Deck the Halls, Joy to the World, The Holly and the Ivy, Good King Wenceslas, O Come All Ye Faithful, Hark the Herald, In the Bleak Midwinter, We Three Kings, Away in a Manger, Ding Dong Merrily, The First Nowell.

A good fit for a choir, church or school Christmas dinner.

4. Christmas food and drink (12)

Mince Pie, Christmas Pudding, Christmas Cake, Yule Log, Gingerbread, Chestnuts, Clementine, Cranberry, Stilton, Mulled Wine, Eggnog, Snowball.

The lightest theme of the lot, which suits an office party. Snowball here is the advocaat and lemonade drink.

5. Winter nature (12)

Holly, Ivy, Mistletoe, Robin, Snowdrop, Frost, Icicle, Snowflake, Pine, Evergreen, Poinsettia, Northern Lights.

Seasonal without being religious, so they suit a mixed workplace, and they still work for a party in January.

6. Welsh Christmas words (10)

  • Nadolig: Christmas
  • Seren: star
  • Celyn: holly
  • Eira: snow
  • Siôn Corn: Father Christmas
  • Nos Galan: New Year's Eve
  • Calennig: a New Year's gift, and the custom of children wishing neighbours a happy new year
  • Plygain: a traditional service of unaccompanied carols, once held before dawn on Christmas morning
  • Mari Lwyd: the "Grey Mare", a South Wales custom of carrying a decorated horse's skull from door to door
  • Cyflaith: toffee; Christmas Eve was Noson Gyflaith, toffee night, in some areas

For a party in Wales, or a Welsh team anywhere. Check the accents and double letters before you order: the circumflex in Siôn is part of the spelling. Our guide to Merry Christmas in Welsh has more words and how to say them.

7. Christmas market cities (12)

Nuremberg, Cologne, Strasbourg, Vienna, Prague, Copenhagen, Tallinn, Edinburgh, Manchester, Bath, Cardiff, Chester.

All known for their Christmas markets. A good choice for a team spread across offices or countries, or a party that has nothing to do with any one tradition.

8. Christmas films (11)

Elf, Home Alone, Love Actually, The Holiday, It's a Wonderful Life, Miracle on 34th Street, The Snowman, Arthur Christmas, Nativity!, The Polar Express, and Die Hard, if your office has that argument every year.

9. Christmas songs (10)

Fairytale of New York, Last Christmas, Merry Xmas Everybody, Driving Home for Christmas, Stop the Cavalry, Step into Christmas, Do They Know It's Christmas?, All I Want for Christmas Is You, Wonderful Christmastime, Mistletoe and Wine.

For films and songs, use the title only. We engrave the words you send, not film or record artwork.

What to put on the sign

Two oak table number signs engraved with 13, the large 115 x 168mm size held next to the standard 74 x 112mm size, each on a stepped wooden base

  • Size. Our table signs come in Standard (74 x 112mm) and Large (115 x 168mm), plus a removable base. Standard suits a short name or a number. Choose Large for long names such as the Twelve Days, for a number with a name beneath it, or for a big room where guests look for their table from a distance.
  • Single or double-sided. Round tables in the middle of a room are approached from every side, so double-sided signs read from every seat. Single-sided is fine for a table against a wall.
  • Logo. At a work party or client dinner, your logo above the table name ties the room together.
  • Keep them. The base pushes on and comes off, so a set stores flat and comes out again next Christmas.

Christmas weddings

Winter nature, the Twelve Days and the Welsh words all suit a Christmas wedding. Our wedding table number signs take table names instead of numbers, with your names and wedding date on each sign, and our heart place cards carry one guest name each.

Engraved table names from our workshop

Two oak corporate table number signs engraved with a company logo above the number 13, in the large and standard sizes, on stepped wooden bases

Every sign below is laser engraved on 4mm FSC-certified oak veneered MDF, stands in a removable wooden base, and is made to order.

To order a set, set the quantity to the number of tables and list them in the personalisation box, one per line, for example "5: Five Gold Rings". Each sign is engraved individually.

Bulk discounts apply automatically at checkout, per product: 10% off 20 or more, rising to 35% off 1,000 or more, so a set of 20 table signs of the same design gets 10% off. For indoor use only.

All items are made to order. Dispatch time is shown at checkout. UK orders via Royal Mail Tracked 24. International via Royal Mail International Tracked.

See all our wooden table signs and wooden Christmas products for business.

Frequently asked questions

What are good Christmas table names?
Pick one theme: Santa's reindeer, carols, Christmas food and drink, winter nature, Welsh Christmas words, Christmas market cities, films, songs or the Twelve Days of Christmas. Keep the names short so they read across the room.

Should Christmas tables have names or numbers?
Both, if the venue or caterer works from a numbered table plan: guests look for the name and staff use the number. Names alone suit a small party where guests can see every table.

How do you use the Twelve Days of Christmas as table names?
Give each table its gift from the song, so table 1 is A Partridge in a Pear Tree and table 12 is Twelve Drummers Drumming. Each name carries its own number, which works for up to 12 tables. The names are long, so choose a larger sign.

What are the names of Santa's reindeer?
Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Comet, Cupid, Donner and Blitzen, from "A Visit from St. Nicholas", first published in 1823, plus Rudolph, who was created in 1939.

What table names suit a work party where not everyone celebrates Christmas?
Winter names such as Frost, Snowdrop, Icicle and Northern Lights, or cities known for their Christmas markets. They are seasonal without being religious.

Also see: Christmas place settings and place cards, staff award ideas for the Christmas party, Secret Santa at work and wooden table signs.

Sources

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