Whether they're decades-old classics or recent releases, dozens of Christmas movies are widely enjoyed by Americans, new YouGov polling finds. The vast majority (79%) of Americans say they love or like holiday or Christmas movies, and most (64%) say they plan to watch one this year.
Out of 52 Christmas movies included in our survey, 22 have been seen by over half of Americans. (Respondents were asked to indicate if they've seen any version of the movie, including parts of a franchise or remakes.) The most widely seen movies are Home Alone (89% have seen it), Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer (84%), A Charlie Brown Christmas (82%), Frosty the Snowman (80%), The Grinch (78%), A Christmas Carol (76%), and Elf (71%). (The 52 movies were included because of findings from previous polls about how many Americans had seen each one.)
Several more recent Christmas movies — released in the past five years — that were included in the poll have been seen by far fewer Americans, including Hot Frosty (10%), Love Hard (11%), The Holdovers (12%), Holiday (13%), and Spirited (13%).
Americans generally enjoy the Christmas movies they've seen. Large majorities of people who have watched each of the 52 Christmas movies asked about have favorable impressions of them. At least three-quarters of each movie's viewers say they love or like it.
The most beloved movies among people who have seen them are also the three most viewed: Home Alone (56% of viewers love it), A Charlie Brown Christmas (52%), and Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer (49%). However, other beloved movies are less widely seen, including White Christmas (48% love it), The Holdovers (45%), and Red One (42%).
There is some debate as to what constitutes a Christmas movie, and we asked Americans to weigh in on four of the most hotly debated. Most people who have seen The Nightmare Before Christmas (73%) consider it to be a Christmas movie. Smaller shares say the same about Gremlins (36%) and Frozen (35%). Die Hard is the most divisive: 44% of those who have seen it classify it as a Christmas movie, while 45% say it isn't one.
Related:
- All I want for Christmas is data on Americans’ holiday traditions, trees, and travel plans
- Do you think Die Hard is a Christmas movie? That might depend on how old you are
- Most popular Christmas movies in the U.S.: A ranking
- ‘Silent Night’ and ‘All I Want for Christmas is You’ tie for America’s favorite Christmas song
— Carl Bialik contributed to this article
See the results for this YouGov poll
Methodology: The poll was conducted online among 2,230. adult citizens on two separate 2025 surveys from December 5 - 8 and December 8 - 11. A random sample (stratified by gender, age, race, education, geographic region, and voter registration) was selected from the 2019 American Community Survey. The sample was weighted according to gender, age, race, education, 2024 presidential vote, 2020 election turnout and presidential vote, baseline party identification, and current voter registration status. 2024 presidential vote, at time of weighting, was estimated to be 48% Harris and 50% Trump. Demographic weighting targets come from the 2019 American Community Survey. Baseline party identification is the respondent’s most recent answer given around November 8, 2024, and is weighted to the estimated distribution at that time (31% Democratic, 32% Republican). The margin of error for the overall sample is approximately 3 percentage points.
Image: Getty
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