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It's Christmas all year round
THEY say Christmas comes but once a year... but this South Yorkshire resident has to live with the festival all year round!
Helen Christmas, from Brinsworth, Rotherham, has had the festive name all her life – and says she wouldn't change it for the world.
"I think it's a lovely name," Helen, aged 38, said.
"It brings up nice feelings for people when they realise my name is Christmas."
Helen is one of the few people in the UK with the relatively rare name – at the last count, there were just over 1,500 people in the country with the seasonal surname.
Helen said: "It's a nice ice breaker – a lot of people have never met anyone with the name Christmas before.
"People like to crack a few jokes, but I always defy anyone to crack a joke I've never heard before."
Helen, of Miller Dale Drive, shares her surname with the rest of her family – mum Elaine, 62, and dad Keith, 63, who both live at Wickersley, and her elder brother Gary, as well as her 93-year-old grandma Clara, of Doncaster Road, Rotherham.
She said: "Me and my family do all the normal things at Christmas – it's not much different to anyone else.
"Sometimes you get used to the fact you're called Christmas. You can sometimes not realise the significance, I suppose."
Helen said being called Christmas made her schooldays difficult at times, as she ran a gauntlet of taunts based on her surname.
"At school it was a nightmare name to have. I can remember feeling I would rather have a normal name. They used to call me things like Helen Easter, and my brother used to get called Crimbo.
"But I've always said I'd never change my name, even if I get married."
Helen, who attended Clifton Comprehensive School, now works at the head office of banking giant HSBC in Sheffield.
And she admitted: "When I go out with my friends I do take a bit of pride in my name.
"On Christmas Eve I ask people, 'What are the chances of meeting someone called Christmas on Christmas Eve?' It can get you some free drinks as well!
"The downside is it's a little bit awkward booking things over the phone when people ask my name. You'll always hear a hesitant pause, and you can almost hear them thinking, 'Should I mention it?'"
The surname is believed to originate from people who were born at Christmas, or who organised annual festivities.
The first recorded British use of the name was in 1185, in a mention of Essex resident Ralph Cristemesse during the reign of King Henry III.
Notable people called Christmas
Cecil Christmas (1886-1916), English footballer
Dionte Christmas (1986-), American NBA player
Eric Christmas (1916-2000), British actor
Ernst William Christmas (1863-1918), Australian painter
Johnny Christmas (1982-), American lacrosse player
Stephen Christmas (1947-1993), for whom the blood clotting protein Factor IX was named
Fictional characters…
Joe Christmas, in William Faulkner's novel Light in August.
Lloyd Christmas, played by Jim Carrey in Dumb and Dumber
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Weather for Sheffield
Tuesday 07 February 2012
Today
Cloudy
Temperature: -6 C to 2 C
Wind Speed: 8 mph
Wind direction: East
Tomorrow
Sunny
Temperature: -4 C to -1 C
Wind Speed: 8 mph
Wind direction: South
