The name “Boxing Day” most likely comes from the old British custom of giving “Christmas boxes” – small boxes of money, food, or gifts – to servants, tradespeople, and the poor on the day after Christmas.

Core origin idea

Most historians connect the name to “Christmas boxes” rather than the sport of boxing.

These boxes were given out on 26 December as a thank-you for service during the year, especially in Britain and later in many Commonwealth countries.

Main historical explanations

  • Servants and workers’ gift day
    • In wealthy British households, servants worked through Christmas Day, so they were given the 26th off and received a box of money, leftovers, or small presents from their employers.
* The term “Boxing Day” is recorded in Britain by at least the 18th–19th century in this sense.
  • Church alms boxes
    • Many churches kept donation boxes where people gave money during Advent and Christmas.
* These **alms boxes** were opened on 26 December (also the Feast of St Stephen) and the contents distributed to the poor, which some believe inspired the name.

Other, less likely theories

  • Naval “lucky boxes”
    • On some British ships, a sealed box of money was kept during a voyage and then opened and given to charity after returning, often around Christmas, which some link to the term.
  • Boxing matches and returned “boxes”
    • A few modern explanations mention prizefighting held on 26 December or people returning unwanted gift boxes that day, but these are seen as later associations, not the true origin.

What scholars generally agree on

There is no single definitive document that “proves” one origin, but the strongest consensus is that the name “Boxing Day” comes from traditions of boxing up gifts or donations – either by employers to staff or by churches to the poor – rather than anything to do with the sport.

Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.