Traditional Christmas Carols are religious in nature. They often reflect on the birth of Jesus and/or the redemption of humanity. Most of these songs were written and released prior to 1930.

It was the era of the Great Depression that brought about Christmas songs of a more secular tradition in America. These songs did not reference the Christian nature of the holiday.

Here are 10 Traditional Christmas carols and a little about how they came to be.

O Come All Ye Faithful was originally written in Latin and named “Adeste Fiedelas.” This version was published in 1760. A copy of this manuscript can be found in the Royal Library in Portugal. The original version (since over the years the songs stanzas have been either changed or new stanzas added) was written by John Frances Wade.  Many years after its release it was translated to English by Fredrick Oakley and William…