The name Santa Claus came from the Dutch form of "Saint Nicholas". The Dutch in particular are credited with reviving St. Nicholas as the 'gift bringer'. The Dutch form of St Nicholas is Sinterklaas. When the Dutch settled New York, the tradition came with them. The name had appeared in the American newspapers as "St A. Claus" and eventually was changed to Santa Claus.
every year my family has a tradition that on the sixth of December called "St.Nicholas day or the Feast of St.Nicholas", the night before we set out our shoes and the next morning if we've been good we'd get oranges and chocolatea, if we've been bad twitches and sticks. Also that is the day we put up our Chirstmas decor including the tree if it falls on a weekend or the coming week end.
to your credit,Ab86, you were close i just gave more info. for me its the first week of Advent and we light the first candle on Sunday ( should have done last sunday but with the move its an exception and we'll do it next year )