Why is it called Boxing Day?

Published Dec. 26, 2016 10:51 a.m. ET

Nick Schwartz

The day after Christmas feels like a second Christmas morning for fans of the English Premier League, but you might be wondering why exactly the 26th of December is called "Boxing Day." We're here to help.

According to The Guardian, Boxing Day is named after a charitable practice that may have stretched back to the Middle Ages or the Roman empire.

"One school of thought argues that the tradition began in churches in the Middle Ages. Parishioners collected money for the poor in alms boxes, and these were opened on the day after Christmas in honour of St Stephen, the first Christian martyr, whose feast day falls on 26 December.

.... What is undeniably true is that the practice developed of people giving Christmas boxes – commonly a small gift or some money – to tradespeople who had provided them with good service in the course of the year."