How to Sign a Christmas Card: Closings and Names

The signature is the last thing someone reads in your card, and it does two jobs. The closing line (“With love”, “Warm wishes”) sets the temperature of the whole message, and the name tells them exactly who it’s from, which is less obvious than it sounds when someone has three friends called Sarah. Get those two right and the rest of the card can be as short as you like.

Start with the closing line

The closing should match the greeting and the relationship. “Dearest Nan” followed by “Regards” reads oddly; so does “Dear Mr. Okafor” followed by “All my love”. The familiar closings cover most cards: Love and With love for family and close friends, Warm wishes and Best wishes for almost anyone, All the best for friends and colleagues, Kind regards for formal cards. If you’d like something a little more your own, these are a start.

For a partner and close family

All my love, and then some,
Love, from the one who warms up your side of the bed,
With love and a very long hug at the door,
Yours, with my whole heart,
Love, your favorite (and only) middle child,

For friends

Love and a standing invitation,
Your partner in every bad idea since 1998,
Until the next long lunch,
Fondly, with fresh coffee waiting,
With love, and a promise of a proper catch-up,

For neighbors and people you know a little

Warmly, from across the street,
With good wishes from the Kims at number 12,
Kind regards, and a happy holiday season,
With every good wish from next door,

For coworkers, clients and your boss

With thanks for a good year,
Warm regards from the whole studio,
With appreciation and best wishes,
All the best for the months ahead,

With love and prayers this Christmas,
Joy and peace to you in Christ,
May God keep you this Christmas,

How to sign a Christmas card without saying love

“Love” can feel too much for a coworker, a neighbor or someone you’ve only recently met, and not quite enough for others. These closings are warm without it:

Warmly,
With fond wishes,
Thinking of you,
Until next year,
With gratitude,
Take care, and merry Christmas,
Cheers, and a happy new year,
With warmest thoughts,

“Warmly” and “With fond wishes” suit almost anyone. “Thinking of you” is especially good for someone having a hard year. “Cheers” is friendly and informal, and a little British.

How to sign a Christmas card from a family

Write the names out for people who don’t see you often. “The Ortizes” is perfectly correct, but a great-aunt in another country may not remember how many children there are, or what they’re called. Names, and even ages, help: “Mia (8) and Leo (5)”.

Adults first, then children. The usual order is the parents, then the children from oldest to youngest. It isn’t a rule. The Emily Post Institute notes that the order of names doesn’t matter, and that pets can join in too.

Let children sign for themselves. A wobbly name in crayon is better than a neat one in your handwriting. For a baby, sign on their behalf: “and baby Nora”.

Plural, not possessive. If you sign with the family name, it’s “the Ortizes” or “the Ortiz family”, never “the Ortiz’s”. Our guide to addressing envelopes for couples and families has the plural rules for tricky names.

Some complete family signatures:

Love from Jane, Dan, Mia and Leo
With love from the Ortizes: Jane, Dan, Mia (8) and Leo (5)
Jane, Dan and the kids, and Biscuit, who ate the first draft of this card
Love from Grandma Rose and Grandpa Joe
Warm wishes from the four of us, and baby Nora, who arrived in June

How to sign a Christmas card with multiple names

For a couple, there’s no correct order. Many people put the writer’s name first, or the name of the person the recipient knows best. If only one of you knows them, that person’s name goes first.

For a long list, keep it on one or two lines and use “and” only before the last name. Past five or six names, a family or household name is kinder to read.

For a group or office card, one person writes the main message and everyone signs underneath with their own short line. On a card going outside the team, add a line at the top that says who it’s from as a group.

From everyone in Accounts, with our signatures below
With love from the whole Murphy clan, all eleven of us
Love, Jane and Dan (Mia’s mom and dad)
From Ana, Ben, Chloe, Dev and Eli: the whole fourth-floor team

Kisses, initials and other small habits

Kisses. In Britain and Ireland, an “x” after the name (“Love, Kate x”) is common between friends and family; more x’s mean more affection. Americans more often write “xo” or “xoxo”. Leave them off work cards.

Initials. Signing only “J.” is fine for a partner or a sibling. For anyone else, use your name.

A clue. If they might know more than one of you, add a surname or a clue: “Jane (Mia’s mom)”, “Tom from the tennis club”. It saves them a puzzled minute.

Special cases

After a separation or divorce. Sign only for your own household. If you share children, the children can sign both parents’ cards.

After a death in the family. Sign with the names of the living, and if you’d like, add a short line remembering the person who has died. Our page of words for a first Christmas after a loss has a few examples.

A new partner. Once the relationship is settled and the recipient knows of them, sign together. Until then, a mention in the message is gentler than a name they don’t recognize.

On behalf of someone else. If you’re writing for an older parent who can no longer write, sign their name and add yours: “Love from Mum (written for her by Clare)”.

Signing a card sent online

An e-card has a signature too, and it shows in two places. On Paper Lantern, what you type in the “Signed” field appears on the envelope (“from Michael and family”) and again under your message, so use the name they’ll recognize at a glance. The field takes up to 60 characters, enough for “Jane, Dan, Mia and Leo” but not for a whole office; for a group, write the team name in the signature and the individual names at the end of the message.

For the words above the signature, our step-by-step method for the message itself covers the greeting, the wish and the personal note, and our guide to card manners covers who should get a card at all. If you’d like a scene that suits a family signature, the Christmas Cottage card shows a thatched cottage at twilight, a candlelit tree in the garden and a robin on the fence.

Questions

Should I sign my last name on a Christmas card?

For family and close friends, no. For anyone who knows several people with your first name, or who knows you mainly through work, yes, or add a clue such as your street or your team.

Whose name goes first, the husband’s or the wife’s?

Either. Today most people put the writer first, or the person the recipient knows best. Etiquette guides no longer insist on one order.

Is “Love” too much on a card to a coworker?

Usually, yes. “Warm wishes”, “All the best” or “Warmly” is friendly and leaves no room for awkwardness.

Can I sign “the Smiths”?

Yes, as long as there’s no apostrophe. For people who don’t know your family well, first names are friendlier.