๐Happy April Fool's Day! Today on the least serious holiday, one full of ๐ pranks, laughs ๐ and for the jokesters ๐คก — I will talk about the once most popular ๐ month name ๐April.
๐Nameberry๐ points out, "April has been overtaken by June (for girls) and August (for boys), as well as the charmingly old-fashioned May." April ranks at #502 on US Top 1000.
A variant of April: ๐Apryl (a la Jones๐ฅ) and the French version is ๐Avril (a la Lavigne๐ค).
Dictionary.com's history on April is extensive: "There are a few common theories behind April‘s naming. One is that the name is rooted in the Latin Aprilis, which is derived from the Latin aperire meaning “to open”—which could be a reference to the opening or blossoming of flowers and trees, a common occurrence throughout the month of April in the Northern Hemisphere. Another theory holds that since months are often named for gods and goddesses, and since Aphrilis is derived from the Greek Aphrodite, it is possible the month was named for the Greek goddess of love (the goddess that the Romans called Venus)! Even now, April is a popular name. And, as if that isn’t enough of a mystery, April also has yet another origination story. Around the fifth century, the Anglo-Saxons referred to April as Oster-monath or Eostre-monath, a reference to the goddess Eostre, whose feast was celebrated during the month. The Venerable Bede, a monk from the Northumbrian monastery of Saint Peter, believed this gave root to the word Easter—which is most often observed during the month of April."
๐Texas and ๐Maine are the states where the most Aprils live.
I've known three Aprils so far in my life (in ๐NYC ๐ฝ) — a ๐ซclassmate and two neighbors๐ — all very nice people. ๐๐พ๐๐พ ๐NB๐ is adamant June is more ⬆ popular than April currently ⬇ but... I've yet to meet a June (a May or an August). ๐ค
๐April is certainly not ๐ ๐พ♀️ my favorite (➡January ➡ October ➡ June ➡ May ➡August ➡April) ๐ month ๐name (because it's personally ๐ my least favorite month)... but I like it as a first name fine. ๐๐พ I like that April is a month name first of all and it's a cute enough name.
I ๐ฎpredict at some point ๐April will ๐overtake ๐June ๐ as most popular month name again — but the two favorite ๐ calendar names๐ seem like they will always be in friendly competition to out chart๐ the other.
⭐FAMOUS & ๐NOTEWORTHY ๐APRILS:
๐April Winchell ๐ฃ (voice actress of cartoon character Clarabelle Cow ๐ฎ on Mickey Mouse Clubhouse)
๐April Clark ๐ฅ(actress)
๐April Telek ๐ฅ / ๐ธ (actress and former beauty queen)
๐Elinor "April March" Blake ๐ค (singer)
๐April June May (๐daughter of late comedian Ralphie May)
๐April Ludgate ๐บ (t.v. show character from Parks & Recreation)
๐April Rhodes ๐บ (t.v. show character from Glee)
๐April Young ๐ง♂️๐บ (t.v. show character from The Vampire Diaries)
๐April Wheeler ๐ / ๐ฅ(book & movie main character from Revolutionary Road)
๐April O'Neil ๐ฐ๐ข (cartoon character in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles)