Born in April

The name and the season

The origin of the name April (Latin Aprilis) is uncertain. Roman writers connected it with aperire, 'to open', as the month when buds and the earth open; many modern scholars prefer a link with Aphrodite, perhaps through an Etruscan form of her name, since the month was sacred to Venus in Rome. Bede called it Eosturmonath, after a goddess Eostre whose name, he says, gave Easter its English name; he is the only early source for her, and scholars still debate how much weight his remark will bear. In the northern hemisphere it is the month of showers, blossom and lambing, and the opening lines of Chaucer's Canterbury Tales make April's 'sweet showers' the season when people long to go on pilgrimage.

Festivals and folklore

April Fools' Day on 1 April is first clearly attested in Europe in the sixteenth century, and its origin remains unknown despite many theories. Easter, which falls between 22 March and 25 April, often gives the month its religious character, along with the Jewish Passover. The Romans held the Parilia, a purification festival for shepherds and flocks, on 21 April, the traditional date of the founding of Rome, and the Cerealia for the grain goddess Ceres earlier in the month. The month ends on Walpurgis Night, 30 April, the eve of St Walburga's day, when German folklore placed witches on the Brocken and villages lit bonfires to keep them away. English weather lore credits April's showers with bringing May's flowers.

Birthstone and birth flower

April's stone is the diamond, named from the Greek adamas, 'unconquerable', a reference to its hardness. Ancient and medieval writers praised its supposed powers of protection and its association with courage and constancy, and the diamond engagement ring, known among European nobility from the fifteenth century, became widespread only in the twentieth. Some traditional lists give the sapphire instead. The month's flowers are the daisy, whose English name comes from 'day's eye' because it opens at sunrise, and the sweet pea, which the Victorians read as delicate pleasure and farewell.

Traits tradition gives to people born this month

April is shared by Aries and Taurus, fire turning to earth, and popular birth-month portraits combine the boldness of the first with the steadiness of the second. April people are traditionally described as courageous, enthusiastic and direct, natural starters who also enjoy comfort, beauty and the fruits of their work. Almanacs warn of impatience, a quick temper and an obstinate streak when crossed. These portraits belong to tradition and entertainment: controlled studies have not found that birth month or sign predicts temperament.