April is the fourth month on the current Gregorian and Julian calendar. On the old Roman calendar, it was the second month after March since there was no January or February. In the Northern Hemisphere, April is the first month of spring while in the Southern, it is fall. Since the month was seen as a month of sun and and growth, the Romans named the month Aprillis. The name possibly is connected to the Greek goddess Aphrodite, but its origin is unclear. However, the name has stuck and called today April.

With winter over in the Northern Hemisphere, it is a time of joy the days get warmer. The cold days of rain, snow, and frost begin to recede in earnest in most places though the further north you are, it will hold out for a bit longer. April is known for countless festivities to herald this time of year. Of course, April 1 is April Fool’s Day, which is celebrated globally as a day of playing pranks. It is thought that it began as a way to celebrate the end of winter since people would be happy to see it go. So, playing joyful pranks on friends and neighbors would occur. April also is often a time of two major celebrations for Christianity and Judaism: Easter and Passover.

The first full moon in April has both religious and secular meanings. Since Jews use a lunar calendar, Passover occurs in the seventh month and on the 14th day at the full moon. The Western Christian church generally observes Easter after the first full moon after the Vernal Equinox in March. Thus, the first Sunday after the Paschal Moon is when Easter Sunday will be observed. Sometimes Easter and Passover will be celebrated at nearly the same time. However sometimes the astronomical date and the ecclesiastical date do not always sync up. At the Council of Nicea in 325 AD, it was decided Easter Sunday would be celebrated on the first Sunday after the Vernal Equinox (usually March 21). It was further decided that Easter Sunday, to accommodate a full moon right after the equinox, would be celebrated between March 22 up to April 25. Sometimes Easter Sunday will occur March since the full moon (sometimes called the Lenten Moon in this case) occurs right after the equinox.

As you might guess, this involves a lot of calculations (called Computus) to get everything properly set up for Lent and Easter Sunday for each liturgical year. Since the Western churches use the Gregorian calendar, it corrects the problems of the older Julian calendar during the solar year. Eastern Orthodox still uses the Julian calendar for its liturgical year, so its observance of Easter can fall a week or several weeks later. Every four years, both calendars align, and both observe Easter Sunday on the same date. Since Easter Sunday also determines public holidays in different countries, the dates for those holidays change each year as well.

Other cultures had different names for the April moon. One is the Pink Moon. This was used in some places in North America. It did not denote the moon was pink but that a certain flower turned pink in April. Breaking Moon was used by Native Americans in Dakota as the return of warmth meant the end of ice. Names were sometimes connected to when certain animals returned from their winter retreats (Moon When Ducks Return etc.)

Of course, there is a lot of folklore around the first moon in April. Here are some favorites:

A full Moon in April brings frost. If the full Moon rises pale, expect rain.

“A cold April the barn will fill.”
(Old Farmer’s Almanac)

Suggested Reading

Catherine Boeckmann, “The Month of April 2025: Holidays, Fun Facts, Folklore,” Almanac.Com, last modified March 21, 2025, https://www.almanac.com/content/month-april-holidays-fun-facts-folklore.

“The Month of April,” https://www.timeanddate.com/calendar/months/april.html.

Stephen Bedard, “How Is the Date for Easter Calculated? – History of Christianity,” History of Christianity, last modified March 29, 2025, https://historyofchristianitypodcast.com/2025/03/28/how-is-the-date-for-easter-calculated/.