Does merry in merry Christmas means peaceful?

Answer 1

Mostly it means "joyous" or simply "happy." The phrase "making merry" was applied to Bob Cratchit in "A Christmas Carol" to denote having had just a bit too much to drink on Christmas Day, which made him a tad late reporting to work the next day. "Merriment" implies a feeling of light-hearted gladness.

Taken altogether, however, such feelings can create a feeling of internal peace, so it might not be a huge stretch to associate "Merry Christmas" with a feeling of peace, even if we can't attach that literal meaning to the word.