Which of Santa's reindeer is female?

Which of Santa’s reindeer is female? Vixen is the traditional quiz answer. Her name is the feminine term for a fox, making her the only member of the classic team whose name directly signals a female animal.

Vixen comes from “A Visit from St. Nicholas,” the 1823 poem commonly known as “The Night Before Christmas.” The poem names eight reindeer: Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Comet, Cupid, Donner, and Blitzen. It does not formally describe their sexes, but later Christmas stories, films, and quiz traditions consistently portray Vixen as female.

There is an interesting biological wrinkle. In real reindeer, both males and females grow antlers, unlike most deer species. Female reindeer often retain their antlers through winter, while males commonly shed theirs after the autumn rut. That has led some readers to argue that Santa’s antlered team would more plausibly be female or include females—but it does not change the conventional trivia answer.

Rudolph is not one of the original eight: he was introduced in Robert L. May’s 1939 story and became widely known through the 1949 song. The names Donner and Blitzen also evolved from “Dunder” and “Blixem” in early versions of the poem.