April: The Month Named After Aphrodite

I recently became interested in learning about history, after my spontaneous trip to the Natural History Museum last Sunday. I developed a wanting to learn about all-things related to history. I questioned my birth name, my family history, my university, and eventually,the history of everything.

Soon, I learned everything has history. History is important because it shapes the world today.  It dawned upon me that everything around me has history behind it. I wanted to know more, so I did some digging. 

Due to the recent month change from March to April, I decided to learn about month history. From learning about chinese calendars to the origins of month names, I did my own search for the history of April. Here’s what I learned. 

The most interesting fact: the 12 months of our calendar are named after gods and goddesses. 

This was something I never thought about. I thought names were names, no way did it dawn upon me in my 19 years of life, that the months I’ve lived and learned how to spell and write, were named after gods and goddesses. How extraordinary. 

The month of April is derived after the Greek goddess of love, Aphrodite. It can be spelled and pronounced differently  in old english, latin, and greek. 

In Old English, April is said to be Aprilis. 

In Latin, April is Aperit.

In Greek, April is Aphro.

Did you know months have birth flowers? I sure didn’t.

But April’s birth flower is the daisy and sweet pea, according to timeanddate.com. “The birthstone for April is the diamond which symbolizes innocence.”

Now you know just as much as I do with the month of April! 

• aphrodite
• Goddess
• history
• love