This is why Mithras is such a good Christmas name ...
Mithras was the central figure in a pre-Christian religion.
"Mithras was a divine being borne of a human virgin on December 25th (the Winter Solstice by the Roman Julian calendar), his birth watched and worshipped by shepherds. As an adult, Mithras healed the sick, made the lame walk, gave sight to the blind and raised the dead. Before returning to heaven at the Spring Equinox Mithras had a last supper with 12 disciples (representing the 12 signs of the Zodiac). Mithraism included Zoroastrian beliefs in the struggle between good & evil, symbolized as light & darkness.
This militaristic black-and-white morality (including a final judgment affecting an afterlife of heaven or hell) probably accounted for the popularity of Mithraism among Roman soldiers.
Mithraism was like an ancient fraternity: a mystery cult open only to men which had seven degrees of initiation ? including the ritual of baptism and a sacred meal of bread & wine representing the body & blood of Mithras."
Sound familiar anyone? Christianity basically nicked the Christmas story from Mithrasism!
"in 325 Constantine declared December 25th to be an Immovable Feast for the whole Roman Empire. The bishop of Rome may have accepted December 25th as the date of birth of Jesus Christ as early as 320 AD, but historical documents provide no evidence for a date earlier than 336 AD.
The Church was pushed by political forces and pulled by the desire to co-opt a popular pagan holiday, despite a lack of evidence that Christ was born in December"
Taken from here
Or you could always go for Rudolph