Should Santa be gender neutral? Survey shows some people think so

Santa needs a makeover, nearly 30 percent of respondents to a recent survey said.

Santa's history begins around 280 A.D. in modern-day Turkey, history.com says, with a monk named St. Nicholas.

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It wasn't until 1822, however, that Santa Claus became "a right jolly old elf," immortalized in Clement Clarke Moore's poem, "A Visit from St. Nicholas."

And it wasn't until 1881 that a first likeness of him appeared, drawn by political cartoonist Thomas Nast. History.com says Nast also gave Santa his red suit, North Pole workshop, elves and wife.

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Nearly 140 years later, some people think it’s time to give jolly ol’ St. Nick a modern look.

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GraphicSprings, a free logo maker, asked 400 people in the United States and United Kingdom how they would change Santa, then let 4,000 people pick which changes they'd prefer.

Slightly more than 70 percent of people surveyed thought Santa should stay just as he is

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Nearly 11 percent, however, thought Santa should be female, and slightly more than 17 percent thought the holiday icon should be gender neutral.

A quarter of respondents want Santa to wear sneakers, and 18 percent think he should be more “hipster,” i.e. skinny jeans.

Should Santa have tattoos? Twenty percent say yes. And 21 percent feel he needs to ignore the milk and cookies so he can shed a few pounds.

See the complete list of suggestions and results here.