How Many Gifts in the 12 Days of Christmas?

Most people know the ‘12 Days of Christmas’ song that has been sung since the 1780’s. It is perhaps the most famous (less loved) traditional carol of all time. It tells the tale of a person receiving an exhausting list of gifts from their true love in the 12 days following Christmas.

Has it also left you wondering how many gifts did ‘my true love give to me’? Let’s solve the carol mystery together, once and for all!

What are the 12 Days of Christmas Gifts?

Day 1: A partridge in a pear tree

Day 2: Two turtle doves

Day 3: Three French hens

Day 4: Four calling birds

Day 5: Five golden rings

Day 6: Six geese a-laying

Day 7: Seven swans a-swimming

Day 8: Eight maids a-milking

Day 9: Nine ladies dancing

Day 10: 10 Lords a-leaping

Day 11: 11 Pipers piping

Day 12: 12 Drummers drumming

What are the lyrics to the song?

If you’re unfamiliar with the song, here’s a mathematical breakdown of the lyrics. See if you can keep count!

“On the firstday of Christmas my true love gave to me: a Partridge in a Pear Tree” (1 gift)

“On the second day of Christmas my true love gave to me: two turtle Doves and a partridge in a pear tree” (2+1= 3 gifts, so 4 gifts in total)

“On the third day of Christmas my true love sent to me three French hens, two turtle doves, and a partridge in a pear tree” (3+2+1= 6 gifts on day 3 and 10 all together so far)

“On the fourth day of Christmas, my true love sent to me four calling birds, three French hens, two turtle doves, and a partridge in a pear tree” (4+3+2+1= 10 gifts of day 4)

“On the fifth day of Christmas, my true love sent to me five gold rings, four calling birds, three French hens, two turtle doves, and a partridge in a pear tree” (5+4+3+2+1= 15 gifts on day 5)

“On the sixth day of Christmas, my true love sent to me six geese a-laying, five gold rings, four calling birds, three French hens, two turtle doves, and a partridge in a pear tree” (6+5+4+3+2+1= 21 gifts on day 6, and 56 in total )

“On the seventh day of Christmas, my true love sent to me seven swans a-swimming, six geese a-laying, five gold rings, four calling birds, three French hens, two turtle doves, and a partridge in a pear tree” (7+6+5+4+3+2+1= 28 gifts)

“On the eighth day of Christmas, my true love sent to me eight maids a-milking, seven swans a-swimming, six geese a-laying, five gold rings, four calling birds, three French hens, two turtle doves, and a partridge in a pear tree” (8+7+6+5+4+3+2+1= 36 gifts on day 8, amounting to 84 in total so far)

“On the ninth day of Christmas, my true love sent to me nine ladies dancing, eight maids a-milking, seven swans a-swimming, six geese a-laying, five gold rings, four calling birds, three French hens, two turtle doves, and a partridge in a pear tree” (9+8+7+6+5+4+3+2+1= 45 gifts)

“On the tenth day of Christmas, my true love sent to me ten lords a-leaping, nine ladies dancing, eight maids a-milking, seven swans a-swimming, six geese a-laying, five gold rings, four calling birds, three French hens, two turtle doves, and a partridge in a pear tree” (10+9+8+7+6+5+4+3+2+1= 55 gifts on the third last day, a whopping 220 gifts in total so far)

“On the eleventh day of Christmas, my true love sent to me eleven pipers piping, ten lords a-leaping, nine ladies dancing, eight maids a-milking, seven swans a-swimming, six geese a-laying, five gold rings, four calling birds, three French hens, two turtle doves, and a partridge in a pear tree” (11+10+9+8+7+6+5+4+3+2+1= 66 gifts)

“On the twelfth day of Christmas, my true love sent to me twelve drummers drumming, eleven pipers piping, ten lords a-leaping, nine ladies dancing, eight maids a-milking, seven swans a-swimming, six geese a-laying, five gold rings, four calling birds, three French hens, two turtle doves, and a partridge in a pear tree!” (12+11+10+9+8+7+6+5+4+3+2+1= 78 gifts)

How many gifts did you count in total?

How to work out the total number of gifts in the 12 Days of Christmas

To find the answer, we need to add up the total amount of gifts given up and including those of the 12th day.

In other words, we need to calculate the 12th Tetrahedral number. With a little bit of help from A-level maths algebra, there’s a formula which we can use to calculate the ‘nth’ tetrahedral number we need (12) without working out all the others in between:

T(n) = (1/6)(n)(n+1)(n+2)

Now you simply need to substitute ‘n’ with the number 12 (the twelfth tetrahedral number) and you’ve solved our puzzle!

T(12) = (1/6)(12)(12+1)(12+2) = 364 gifts

So there you’ve got it! Your true love has given you a whopping number of 364 gifts over the 12 Days of Christmas. That’s almost one gift a day for a whole year! It’s only one gift short (2 during a leap year), but with that many gifts, including 42 geese a-swimming, 36 ladies dancing and 12 drummers drumming, who’s counting?

How much would it cost to buy the Twelve Days of Christmas Gifts?

Now that we know you’d need to buy 364 gifts, it’s safe to say it will be an expensive exercise! For the past 40 years the American bank PNC has released the Christmas Price Index, which calculates (in dollars, of course) how much the Twelve Days of Christmas experience would set you back financially. Just to give you a rough idea, in 2024, the Partridges in a Pear Tree (you’d need 12 in total) will cost you $370.18 (about £292), the Seven Swans-A-Swimming for 6 of the 12 days will cost you $13 125.00 (about £10 383) and so the list goes on… In total, all 364 gifts will cost you about $49 263.47 or £38 972.41!

What are the 12 days of Christmas?

According to theology, the 12 Days of Christmas, also referred to as Twelvetide, mark the time between Christ’s birth and the visitation of the three wise men. Religious celebrations start on Christmas day, 25th of December and conclude on the 6th of January, also known as Three Kings Day.

You can find modern Christmas gifts inspiration (that won’t cost you the world), here: https://www.prezzybox.com/christmas-gifts.aspx