Why Is It Called a ‘White Elephant’ Gift?

White elephant gifts are those intentionally odd, impractical or delightfully tacky presents that are exchanged—and swapped and laughed over—at holiday parties. But this beloved tradition has origins far removed from today's offices and social gatherings.

The term "white elephant" traces back to Southeast Asia, particularly Siam (modern-day Thailand), where rare pale elephants held sacred status, believed to bring prosperity to the kingdom.

According to legend, if the King of Siam wanted to punish a troublesome courtier, he would gift him one of these magnificent but financially ruinous creatures. The sacred white elephant could not be put to work, but it still demanded enormous resources to house and feed. The unlucky recipient of a white elephant “knew his fate was sealed," reported The New York Times in 1873.

It’s unlikely Siamese rulers intentionally gifted white elephants as punishment. Owning the rare pachyderm was a high honor, but the story cemented the phrase as shorthand for a burdensome possession.

One of the first known references to this idiom is found in an 1851 letter from the English novelist G.E. Jewsbury to Jane Welsh Carlyle. She wrote: “His services are like so many white elephants, of which nobody can make use, and yet that drain one’s gratitude, if indeed one does not feel bankrupt.”

The term was popularized in the late 19th and early 20th centuries with the emergence of American holiday “swap parties.” In the 1890s, newspapers began enthusiastically promoting the latest social trend, which had guests trade items sight unseen—pictures, chinaware, ribbons or poorly fitting gloves—essentially unloading things they no longer wanted. The more outlandish the gift, the more fun ensued during the exchange.

By 1911, these events were commonly called white elephant parties. The tradition surged during the Great Depression, when repurposing gifts made economic sense. Newspaper mentions of white elephant parties declined during World War II, but the tradition returned in the 1950s as a favorite of social clubs.

By the 1980s, the rise of re-gifting inspired the nickname “Dirty Santa,” a nod to a Santa Claus who had already ventured down a chimney or two.

Another longstanding name associated with the tradition is “Yankee swap." Walt Whitman included the phrase in his list of essential American things, referring to the bartering or exchange of any two items of roughly equal value.