They first formal appearance of the Yuledays was in the Shire Calendar, and so they cannot predate the foundation of the Shire in III 1601. In origin, the Shire Calendar followed the structure of the old King's Reckoning of the Dúnedain, and though that older calendar also marked the end of one year and the beginning of the next with distinct days, those days were simply named Mettarë and Yestarë ('last-day' and 'first-day'). It is entirely possible, and indeed likely, that the introduction of the Yuledays by the Hobbits followed some ancient Yule tradition of their ancestors, but the formal Yuledays did not appear until the development of the Shire Calendar.

The old Germanic word géol (with variants in many other languages) is recorded as the name of a midwinter feast going back into the distant past, but the original meaning of the word has been lost. Some sources suggest a meaning like 'rebirth' (which would indeed fit the ending of one year and the beginning of the next) although this interpretation is far from certain.