How to Say Merry Christmas in Polish

Merry Christmas in Polish is Wesołych Świąt. It’s the greeting Polish local councils use in their holiday notices, and the full version, Wesołych Świąt Bożego Narodzenia, spells out which holiday you mean. If your family came from Poland, or you still write to Babcia in Kraków or Chicago, this is the line to learn first. Here is what it means, the other greetings Poles use, and how to write them in a card.

Wesołych Świąt, word by word

• Wesołych comes from wesoły, merry or cheerful.
• Świąt comes from święta, the holidays or feast days. At Christmas it simply means “Christmas”.
• Bożego Narodzenia, in the longer version, means “of God’s Birth”, the Polish name for Christmas being Boże Narodzenie.

Why the unusual endings? Polish greetings are really the second half of a sentence that starts “I wish you…”, and after that verb the words take a particular form (the genitive case). You can see the whole sentence in a formal card: Życzymy Państwu zdrowych, spokojnych Świąt, “We wish you healthy, peaceful holidays.” In a short greeting the “I wish you” is simply left out.

Mind the accents: ł, ś and ą are separate letters in Polish, and leaving them off can change the word. Copy the greeting exactly as it’s written here.

On capitals: in greetings, Wesołych Świąt is often written with two capitals, as in the examples on this page. You’ll also see Wesołych świąt, with a small ś, especially in running text.

We don’t write out pronunciations on this page. Polish sounds don’t map neatly onto English spelling, so respellings mislead; a Polish speaker in the family will do it far better.

Other Polish greetings for a Christmas card

Adding the New Year

• Szczęśliwego Nowego Roku: “Happy New Year”. Same pattern as before: the words are in the form that follows “I wish you”.
• Wesołych Świąt oraz Szczęśliwego Nowego Roku: “Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year”. Oraz means “and”; the everyday word i works too.

A warmer wish

• Zdrowych, spokojnych Świąt: “Healthy, peaceful holidays”. Health first, then peace: a wish that suits every age.

Who are you writing to?

• Babciu and Dziadku: the forms of babcia (grandma) and dziadek (grandpa) used when you speak or write directly to them. Polish changes the ending of a name or title when you address someone: mama becomes Mamo, tata becomes Tato.
• Kochany Dziadku! (“Dear Grandpa!”, literally “beloved”) or Kochana Babciu! (“Dear Grandma!”). For both parents: Kochani Rodzice! (“Dear Parents!”).
• When you write to family in Polish, the words for “you” are traditionally capitalized as a courtesy: Tęsknię za Wami, “I miss you all”, with a capital W.
• To someone you’d address formally, use Państwu (“to you”, polite), as in Życzymy Państwu…, “We wish you…”.

Signing off

• Pozdrawiam serdecznie: “Warm regards”, polite and friendly, fine for a grandparent.
• Ściskam!: “Hugs!”, literally “I squeeze (you)”. Casual and affectionate.

How to write it in a card: bilingual examples

You don’t need to write the whole card in Polish. A Polish greeting, your news in English and a Polish sign-off at the end is plenty. Under each example is what the Polish means.

1. To a grandfather

Kochany Dziadku!

Wesołych Świąt! I finally learned to make your pierogi with mushrooms, though the shape still needs work.

Pozdrawiam serdecznie, Kasia

Polish parts: “Dear Grandpa!”, “Merry Christmas!” and “Warm regards”.

2. To parents at home

Kochani Rodzice!

Wesołych Świąt oraz Szczęśliwego Nowego Roku! We’ll set an extra plate at our table in Detroit, the way you always do.

Polish parts: “Dear Parents!” and “Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!”

3. To a grandmother

Kochana Babciu!

Wesołych Świąt! I’ll be watching for the first star on Christmas Eve, and thinking of your kitchen.

Ściskam! Ola

Polish parts: “Dear Grandma!”, “Merry Christmas!” and “Hugs!”

4. When you miss the whole family

Tęsknię za Wami. Christmas in London is lovely, but nobody here has heard of poppy-seed cake.

Zdrowych, spokojnych Świąt!

Polish parts: “I miss you all” and “Healthy, peaceful holidays!”

5. To an older neighbor or a family friend

Życzymy Państwu zdrowych, spokojnych Świąt. Thank you for looking after our parents’ garden this year.

Polish part: “We wish you healthy, peaceful holidays” (formal “you”).

6. A short one to cousins

Wesołych Świąt! See you next summer in Zakopane, and this time I’m winning at cards.

Polish part: “Merry Christmas!”

7. To Mom (or Mum)

Mamo!

Wesołych Świąt Bożego Narodzenia. Thank you for every Christmas Eve you made, even the year the carp escaped.

Polish parts: “Mom!” and the full form of the greeting, “Merry Christmas of God’s Birth”.

When Poles say it

The heart of a Polish Christmas is Wigilia, the evening of December 24. It traditionally begins when the first star appears in the sky. Before the meal, the family breaks and shares opłatek, a thin Christmas wafer, and everyone exchanges good wishes face to face. Many families try to put twelve dishes on the table, and some leave an empty seat for a traveler or anyone who would otherwise be alone. Later comes Pasterka, the midnight Mass. Our page on the Christmas Eve supper and the wafer and our guide to Christmas customs in Poland tell these stories in full.

For other languages, see our Christmas greetings from Welsh to Swedish.

Checked by a native speaker

The Polish greetings on this page were checked by a native Polish speaker before publication.

Cards to carry your Wesołych Świąt

The cards in our collection from Poland carry their greeting in Polish, set as text rather than painted in so every accent stays sharp, and your own message goes underneath. The one below is painted for Christmas Eve itself: two candles on the table, a cat in the window and the first star over the church. Send by email or text, or schedule your card to arrive before Wigilia.