Given name & surname
April
“to open”
April takes its name from the month and carries the seasonal associations of opening buds and spring growth. It sits naturally beside the other month names May and June, while its deeper Latin explanation remains a possibility rather than a certainty.
Meaning & origin
What it means
The immediate reference is the month of April. A traditional explanation links the Latin name with “to open,” evoking opening buds and flowers; that proposed root should not be mistaken for an unquestioned literal translation.
Where it comes from
April is an English month name used as a given name. The month’s Latin name is aprilis.
How it developed
Latin aprilis may derive from aperīre, “to open.” An additional suggestion is that given-name April was originally intended as an English counterpart to Avril, though that naming route is also uncertain.
The story
April belongs to a small group of English given names taken from spring months, alongside May and June. The seasonal connection supplies its associations with new growth without requiring a separate mythological or family-name origin.
April through the years
- Babies since 1880
- 243,592
- 667 boys · 242,925 girls
- Most popular year
- 1980
- 11,517 babies
- 2025
- 557
- #542 for girls
- 2021–25 vs 2016–20
- −14%
- Easing
Where it’s given
By the numbers
In 2025, this name appeared in 557 U.S. birth records for girls, ranking No. 542 among girls’ names. Average annual use for girls was 13.5% lower in 2021–2025 than in 2016–2020. Its largest published annual count for girls was 11,472 in 1980. In 2025, Texas had the largest reported state-level birth count for girls with this name (99). Published U.S. population figures for this spelling include 206,083 as a first name in 2020; 1,306 as a surname in 2020.
From Social Security birth records and U.S. Census name counts for this exact spelling. Other spellings are counted separately.
April’s family of names
In Cebuano usage, April has a diminutive in Eplong. In Cebuano usage, April developed from the Ancient Greek form Ἀφροδίτη. April has a related form in Abril.
Inner ring: spellings · middle: nicknames and forms · outer: across languages.
Around the world
April has relatives in 4 languages. Lines run from its English roots to each of them.
Nicknames & forms 34
Diminutives, pet forms, short forms and variants used alongside the name.
- Abrilvariant
- Avrilvariant · English, German
- Abriellevariant
- Aprylvariant · English
- Avriellevariant
- Avrielvariant
- Apryllvariant
- Avrylvariant
Show 26 moreShow fewer
- Averilvariant
- Averylvariant
- Abrialvariant
- Aprillevariant
- Aprilevariant
- Aprelvariant
- Aprylevariant
- Avrillvariant
- Averillvariant
- Aprellvariant · German
- Apprillikely variant
- Eplongdiminutive · ceb
- Eproldiminutive · ceb
- Epoydiminutive · ceb
- Abriendavariant
- Avrialvariant
- Aperiravariant
- Aprialvariant
- Apriellevariant
- Aprillavariant
- Aprilivariant
- Aprilavariant
- Aprelevariant
- Apryllevariant
- Averelvariant
- Abrellvariant · German
Spellings & scripts 5
The same name written differently, including transliterations into other scripts.
Across languages 2
Equivalents and cognates in other languages, plus older forms it grew from.
See also 2
Names our sources mention alongside this one. They are related in story or meaning, not forms of this name.
People named April
- AJ LeeAmerican professional wrestler and authorborn 1987
- April BowlbyAmerican actressborn 1980
- April WinchellAmerican voice actressborn 1960
- April PearsonBritish actressborn 1989
- April RossAmerican beach volleyball playerborn 1982
- April AshleyEnglish model, actress, author, and activist (1935–2021)
- April HeinrichsAmerican former soccer player and coachborn 1964
- April Parker JonesAmerican actressborn 1950
- April MatsonAmerican actress and singerborn 1981
Characters named April: April O'Neil (the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles franchise), April Kepner (fictional Charcter from Grey's Anatomy), April Ryan (The Longest Journey).
Listed by how widely each person is written about, which says nothing about the name itself.
Similar names
If you love April, these share its style, era, origin or sound, from outside its own family.
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