Easter 2025: Date, How It Is Set, and Its Origins
Easter 2025 was Sunday, April 20. How the date is set from Passover’s spring full moon, where the name comes from, and the dates for 2026 and 2027.
Easter 2025 fell on Sunday, April 20
Easter 2025 was Sunday, April 20. That year Catholic, Protestant and Orthodox churches all kept Easter on the same day, which happens only in some years, because East and West use different calendars to fix the date.
If you are planning ahead: Easter 2026 is Sunday, April 5 (Orthodox Easter is April 12), and Easter 2027 is Sunday, March 28 (Orthodox Easter is May 2).
Why the date moves every year
Western churches keep Easter on the first Sunday after the first full moon on or after March 21, the church’s fixed date for the spring equinox. That “full moon” comes from church tables, not from the sky, so the date can be worked out centuries ahead. Easter always lands between March 22 and April 25.
Orthodox churches use the same rule but count it on the older Julian calendar, which now runs thirteen days behind. That is why Orthodox Easter is often a week later, and sometimes four or five weeks later.
Leviticus 23:5 — Passover’s spring full moon
Easter began as Passover
Easter moves with the moon because the first Easter did. Jesus died at Passover, a feast God set by the lunar calendar: the fourteenth day of the first month, which fell at the full moon of spring.
“In the fourteenth day of the first month at even is the LORD’s passover.” (Leviticus 23:5, KJV)
The earliest Christians saw Passover fulfilled in the cross. The lamb’s blood had spared Israel in Egypt; now Christ’s blood spared his people. Paul says it in five words.
“Purge out therefore the old leaven, that ye may be a new lump, as ye are unleavened. For even Christ our passover is sacrificed for us:” (1 Corinthians 5:7, KJV)
Where the name “Easter” comes from
Most languages still name the feast after Passover: Pascha in Greek and Latin, Pascua in Spanish, Pâques in French. Only English and German differ. The monk Bede, writing around 725, said the spring month was named for Eostre, an Anglo-Saxon goddess. He is our only source for her, so some scholars accept him and others trace the word to an old Germanic word for dawn.
“Christ our passover” 1 Corinthians 5:7
Friday, Sunday, and the full moon
The Gospels give two clocks for the first Easter. John says Jesus was sentenced on “the preparation of the passover” (John 19:14). All four Gospels put the empty tomb on the first day of the week.
“And very early in the morning the first day of the week, they came unto the sepulchre at the rising of the sun.” (Mark 16:2, KJV)
In the second century, churches in Asia Minor kept the feast on the fourteenth of the Jewish month, whatever weekday it fell on; they were called Quartodecimans, “fourteeners.” Rome and most other churches kept it on the Sunday after. The Council of Nicaea in 325 agreed that all churches should keep Easter together on a Sunday, and the tables used today grew out of that decision.
What the King James Bible shows in Acts 12:4
The KJV uses the word “Easter” once. There it translates the Greek pascha, the word rendered “passover” everywhere else in the New Testament. Herod was waiting for the Jewish Passover week to end, not for a Christian holiday.
“And when he had apprehended him, he put him in prison, and delivered him to four quaternions of soldiers to keep him; intending after Easter to bring him forth to the people.” (Acts 12:4, KJV)
Eggs and rabbits came much later, from European folk custom; neither is in the Bible. The day rests on one claim: “if Christ be not risen, then is our preaching vain” (1 Corinthians 15:14). In the week before Easter, read Exodus 12 beside John 19–20, and you will see why the date never left Passover’s moon.
Frequently asked questions
When was Easter in 2025?
Sunday, April 20, 2025. Western and Orthodox churches celebrated on the same day that year, which does not happen every year.
When is Easter 2026?
Sunday, April 5, 2026 for Catholic and Protestant churches. Orthodox churches celebrate one week later, on Sunday, April 12.
Is Easter named after a pagan goddess?
Only the English name might be. Bede (c. 725) linked it to a goddess Eostre, and scholars debate this. Most languages call it Pascha, from Passover.
Why does Easter fall on a different date each year?
It keeps Passover’s lunar timing: the first Sunday after the church’s full moon on or after March 21, so it falls between March 22 and April 25.
Why does the KJV say Easter in Acts 12:4?
The Greek word is pascha, Passover. Tyndale’s earlier English used “Easter” for Passover, and the King James translators kept it in this verse.
Why is Easter always on a Sunday?
The Gospels say Jesus rose “the first day of the week” (Mark 16:2), and the Council of Nicaea in 325 asked all churches to keep it on Sunday.
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