Who originally used the abbreviation Xmas?

Answer 1

The Oxford English Dictionary (OED) and the OED Supplement have cited usages of "X-" or "Xp-" for "Christ-" as early as 1485.

Xmas is a common abbreviation of the word Christmas.

The "-mas" part is from the Latin-derived Old English word for Mass,

while the "X" comes from the Greek letter Chi, which is the first letter of the Greek word Χριστός, translated as "Christ".

There is a common misconception that the word Xmas stems from a secular attempt to remove the religious tradition from Christmas by taking the "Christ" out of "Christmas".