YouTube video by ComputerChick Productions™️

As this is a blog about language and not theology, this isn’t a discussion about the spiritual meaning of Easter for various Christian denominations around the world, but where the word Easter came from. English and German (where it’s “Ostern”) are the only two languages that use this form, none of the other Germanic languages do. The others all use words that relate to the Jewish festival of Passover which is celebrated around the same time, and holds many of the roots of the Christian traditions. Many people cite Bede (AKA The Venerable Bede), who was one of the earliest people to write in what we now call Old English (of course, he didn’t think of it as being “Old”). He was a scholar monk who wrote about England, its history and language. He said that the name Eastre was taken from the goddess who the Pagans celebrated at a similar time in order to make the festival more acceptable to them. The OED asserts that there appears to be no evidence for this assertion - in fact in the OED it states that the only real reason to believe him is that there is no discernible reason why he should make up such a story. If the Pagans were happy to celebrate Easter without it coming from an older tradition then why make it sound like they needed convincing? The etymology appears to be as transparent as you might guess. Easter relates to ‘East’ - referring to the dawn. This ties in nicely with the fact that it occurs post-equinox when spring is on its way for the Northern hemisphere, and therefore also more generally ideas of 'dawn’, 'rebirth’ and 'renewal’ that are themes running through the whole of Easter week. There may have been a goddess Eastre, but if there was her name is still linked to these themes as well. (The research from this come from OED, Wordnik and Etymonline)