In the UK "Father Christmas" is usually used instead of the USA's
"Santa Claus", yet when I did a Google search for "Father Christmas" I
got no hits.  I'm interested in the reasons for and the origins of
this difference.  Can anyone help me?

djhatley,

With the holiday season upon us, the tradtion of Santa Claus, Father
Christmas, St. Nicholas, or any of the other numerous names given is
something that is very intriguing and the history of the various names
given to the man who delivers gifts is quite interesting.

Almost all versions of Santa Claus trace their origins back to Bishop
Nicholas of Smyrna, who lived in Turkey in the 4th century AD. 
Nicholas was known for his care, kindness and giving to children.  The
Orthodox church and the Roman Catholic Church, in honor of his works,
elevated Nicholas to miracle worker and Saint, respectively.

In various parts of the world, St. Nicholas took on various names,
some examples (from FactMonster.com,
http://www.factmonster.com/ipka/A0877748.html):
Belgium-Pere Noel 
Brazil-Papai Noel 
Chile-Viejo Pascuero (“Old Man Christmas”) 
China-Dun Che Lao Ren (“Christmas Old Man”) 
France-Pere Noel 
Germany-Weihnachtsmann (“Christmas Man”) 
Hawaii-Kanakaloka 
Hungary-Mikulas (St. Nicholas) 
Italy-Babbo Natale 
Japan-Hoteiosho (a god or priest who bears gifts) 
Norway-Julenissen (“Christmas gnome”) 
Poland-Swiety Mikolaj (St. Nicholas) 
Russia-Ded Moroz (“Grandfather Frost”) 
Sweden-Jultomten (“Christmas brownie”) 
United Kingdom-Father Christmas

In the United States, the legend of Santa Claus was started by 17th
century Dutch settlers from the legend of Sinterklaas, which
eventually became Americanized as Santa Clause around the turn of the
18th century. Hence the key reason for the difference in names simply
traces back to the legend in the United States being of Dutch, opposed
to British, origin.

Thanks for your question and if you need any further clarification,
please let me know.

Regards,

-THV

Search Strategy:
history of Santa Claus
history of Father Christmas
Santa around the world

References:
Did You Know - Father Christmas
http://www.didyouknow.cd/xmas/fatherxmas.htm

NorthPole.com - History of Santa Claus
http://www.the-north-pole.com/history/

Santa Around the World
http://www.christmas.com/pe/1378

History of Santa Claus
http://www.northpolesantaclaus.com/santahistory.htm

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Request for Answer Clarification by djhatley-ga on 25 Nov 2002 11:13 PST

Thanks very much for a great, fast response.  My only question is -
with such a wealth of information out there, why did Google give me
zero hits on a search for "Father Christmas"?

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Clarification of Answer by tar_heel_v-ga on 25 Nov 2002 11:23 PST

djhatley,

Thanks for the rating and I am glad I could provide some assistance. 
Regarding your question about Google hits, I can't explain that as
when I do a search from ://www.google.com on "father christmas", I
get a return of over 69,000.
://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&q=%22father+christmas%22

and without the quotes,
://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&q=father+christmas,
I get over 1.1 million results. Maybe another researcher or user can
provide some information on your particular situation.

Regards,

-THV

I got more information, more quickly, than I ever dreamed of - thanks.