In which 1823 poem did the names of Santa’s eight reindeer first become widely known?

A Visit from St. Nicholas is the 1823 poem in which Santa’s original eight reindeer names became widely known. The poem is commonly called “The Night Before Christmas,” but its formal title is A Visit from St. Nicholas.

The poem describes Santa arriving in a miniature sleigh pulled by eight reindeer. It names Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Comet, Cupid, Dunder, and Blixem. Later editions commonly changed the last two names to Donner and Blitzen, based on German words associated with thunder and lightning.

The poem was published anonymously in the Troy Sentinel newspaper in New York on 23 December 1823. Clement Clarke Moore was long credited as its author, although authorship has been debated. Regardless of that debate, the poem strongly shaped the modern English-language image of Santa.