The Scottish custom in which the first visitor enters a home after midnight is called first-footing.
First-footing is a Hogmanay tradition in which the first person to cross a household's threshold after midnight is called the first foot. The visitor may bring symbolic gifts, traditionally including coal for warmth, shortbread or another food, salt, and whisky. The visit is meant to help determine the household's luck for the coming year.
Older customs sometimes placed special value on the first-foot's appearance, gender, or relationship to the household. A dark-haired male visitor was favored in some regions, although practices have varied widely over time and place. Modern first-footing is generally a friendly social visit rather than a rigid rule.
The custom is associated particularly with Scotland but has related threshold and New Year visiting traditions elsewhere in Britain and Europe. It is one element of Hogmanay, not a separate calendar holiday. The term refers to the first visitor, not simply to everyone who attends a New Year's party.