Santa Claus and Father Christmas were not originally the same being (mythic POV, obviously I'm not suggesting they're real! :-)); the current conception is a fusion of myths from all kinds of different sources. A version originating in the 19th century US is now the dominant one, largely due to its use in Coca Cola advertising in the middle of this century. He certainly has very little to do with the historical St Nicholas, and even less to do with 'Father Christmas' - although the two terms are now used more or less interchangeably. FC was largely a British myth, in turn adapted from old Celtic beliefs about the spirits of winter and whatnot. An obvious difference to modern eyes is that he wore green, and wasn't particularly elderly.
So there you are, a RW example of two (or more) mythic beings being united into one 'cult', with cultural influences and all thrown in. And the myth varies across the world, as some cultures prefer more of some parts of the myth than others - the South American version, I believe, resembles St Nicholas rather more than the one we are familiar with.
I'm not an expert on the above, so I may be wrong on some of the details, but I believe the gist is correct.
While we're on the subject, I thought Alex's classification system was cool, and hereby declare myself to be an Agnostic Subjectivist. It's a pity Paul Chapman's Ob/Sub poll didn't use a multiple choice questionnaire like this (which of the following most closely resembles your view...?) it would have been more informative. Not that I'm getting at Paul, since I think this was far from obvious. Ho hum, live and learn.
Forward the glorious Red Army!
Trotsky
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