A new study has revealed Silent Night is Britain’s favourite Christmas carol of 2023.
The research, conducted by digital headphones magazine Headphonesty, analysed the last 12 months of Google search data to determine which of Classic FM’s top 30 Christmas carols are most searched by Britons on Google and YouTube.
Silent Night, the nation’s most popular Christmas carol, beats other favourites such as Ding Dong! Merrily on High and Away in a Manger to number one.
The lyrics were Googled in the UK more than any other carol.
Silent Night was searched across YouTube and Google more than 45,000 times a month, more than double the combined volume of the second-ranked song.
Its widespread popularity can be traced back to World War I, when the carol was instrumental in bringing about the famous Christmas truce of 1914 between Germany and England.
Silent Night has been translated into hundreds of languages and re-recorded by popular artists. Billboard reported it is the most-recorded holiday song, with over 137,000 versions.
Carol of the Bells took second place with almost 23,000 searches per month. It began as a Ukrainian folk song, with new lyrics later added by a Ukrainian-American composer.
Away in a Manger, often sung in schools during nativity plays, took third place, and received more than 21,000 monthly searches.
O Holy Night, which the Queen of Christmas Mariah Carey has covered, received more than 17,000 monthly searches, and ranked fourth most popular in Britain.
Fifth place went to In the Bleak Mid-Winter, written by English poet Christina Rossetti. It has been referenced in the TV shows Peaky Blinders and The Crown and sung by Katherine Jenkins in Doctor Who.
Joy to the World’s merriness has made it one of the most popular Christmas carols ever. It ranked sixth for Britons, with 11,210 monthly searches.
Hark! The Herald Angels Sing, placing seventh, remains among the nation’s favourite carols despite being written in 1739. In the UK, it is searched approximately 10,610 times a month.
O Come All Ye Faithful ranked eighth among the most popular Christmas carols, and receives almost 10,000 monthly searches.
O Little Town of Bethlehem has been recorded by many singers, leading to its enduring popularity. It ranked ninth with 8,250 monthly searches.
Good King Wenceslas was the tenth most popular carol in the UK. It has famously appeared in many films and TV shows, including The Simpsons, Love Actually and A Muppet Christmas Carol.
Colin Toh, chief editor of Headphonesty, said: “Traditional songs written more than 100 years ago dominated both rankings, with only a few modern songs in between – though some have had rerecorded versions by modern artists, which helps extend the songs’ reach to a broader range of listeners.”
