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Kissing at midnight: New Year's Eve traditions explained

Lori Grisham

USA TODAY Network

A couple kiss as fireworks illuminate the night sky over the Brandenburger Tor to welcome in the new year in Berlin.

When the clock strikes twelve and the ball drops in Times Square, it's time to lean in for that special New Year's kiss.

The popular superstition dictates to "kiss someone at the stroke of midnight on New Year's Eve and you will have a year of luck in love," writes Joanne Wannan in her book Kisstory: A Sweet and Sexy Look at the History of Kissing.

The tradition to share a smooch at midnight has been around a long time, and it may be rooted in German and English folklore. It was believed that the first person you encountered at the start of the new year could determine whether you had good or bad fortune in the year ahead, according to Entertaining from Ancient Rome to the Super Bowl: An Encyclopedia.

"Over time people may have begun to take a proactive approach by kissing someone they knew and liked at the first moment of the New Year," according to the encyclopedia.

The New Year's kiss has been further popularized on the silver screen in films like When Harry Met Sally,Bridget Jones' Diary and The Godfather: Part II.

Meg Ryan and Billy Crystal in a scene from the 1989 motion picture "When Harry Met Sally." The couple share a significant kiss on New Year's Eve.

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