Fluffy chicks and bunnies, practical jokes, chocolate, hot cross buns, decorated eggs...there are a lot of associations with April, but there is a lot more to it than you might think.
April
The name of the month derives from the Latin Aprilis, the fourth month in the Gregorian Calendar. There are two theories for its origin. It possibly derives from the Latin aperire "to open" -- as spring is a time when flowers open up -- but another stronger theory suggests that the name is taken directly from Venus, the Roman goddess of love and fertility. The Romans held the month of Aprilis as sacred to Venus and her festival, the Festum Veneris et Fortunae Virilis, was celebrated on the first day of the of the month in the Roman liturgical calendar. Aprilis therefore could derive from her Greek name, Aphrodite, or the Etruscan form, Apru.
April has many continental translations, including: Abril (Spanish), Aprilo (Esperanto), Avril (French), Aprili (Sicilian) Ebrel (Cornish) and Ebrill (Welsh).
Dawn and Fertility
The Anglo-Saxons called April Ēosturmōnaþ "the month of Eostre". Eostre, Bede tells us, was a Pagan goddess to whom the Anglo-Saxons held feasts for during April. Her name is also found as Eastre or Ostara and Oestara in Old High German. The name derives from the Old Germanic austron "dawn", implying that her function was as Goddess of the Dawn as with Aurora (Roman), Eos (Greek) and Usha (Hindu).
Other "dawn" names include: Agim (Albanian), Alba (Italian, Spanish), Aušra (Lithuanian), Gry (Norwegian), Gwawr (Welsh), Hajna, Hajnalka (Hungarian), Koit (Estonian), Li (Chinese), Nishant (Sanskrit), Roxana (Persian), Sahar (Arabic), Shahar/Shachar (Hebrew), Taner (Turkish), Zora (Slavic) and, of course, Dawn.
Little is known about her worship, but it is most likely that, much like Venus, she was a fertility goddess associated with Spring. In this way the images of eggs, new chicks and rabbits, far from being just a comercial racket, are rather apt symbols for this time of year.
Easter 
Ēosturmōnaþ, sacred to Eostre, became replaced during Christianisation with the remembrance of the Resurrection of Jesus. Although the Pagan rites faded and the Christian festival took its place, the name still stuck, and "Easter" became instead associated with the "Paschal month".
There are several names that actually mean "Easter". The Latin word Pascha was used as the basis for the Late Roman name Paschalis used for children born at Eastertide.
Many other languages use a inheritance of Pascha as their word for Easter - and so too a derived name. In France they use Pascal, with Pascale and Pascaline as feminine forms. Pascual and Pascuala are the Spanish forms and Pasquale, Pasqualino and Paqualina are the Italian. Paskal is used in Slavic countries.
On our own British shores Pasco / Pascow / Pascoe has been traditionally used in Cornwall, a cognate of the Breton Pascou. Pasca, Pascatte and Pascowes have been used as feminine forms.
Easter itself was once the traditional name given to children born at Easter in England. It was used for both boys and girls, although, probably due to it's similar sound to Esther, it was mostly used for girls.
In other countries, names are used to commemorate the Crucifixion. Cruz, meaning "cross" is a unisex name used in Spain and Portugal, that is used in reference to the cross of the crucifixion. Similarly, Stavros "cross" is used in Greece and Krastyo in Bulgaria.
Clearings and Ashes
In Finland, April is called Huhtikuu -- huhtu referring to a forested area cleared for agriculture. In days of old, April was a time when Finnish farmers would clear areas of forest for new land to grow rye. The trees would be burnt, and it is thought that the ashes increased the soil's fertility.
The Old English leah "clearing" has been used in many place names, which later became surnames and, consequently, first names. Lea, Lee, and Leigh have been used as a unisex name for much of the last two centuries. Place names containing the leah element are numerous, and many have been used as first names. Popular forms are Ashley, Bradley, Dudley, Hayley, Shelley, Shirley and Stanley. Other options include: Abberley, Ainsley, Audley, Aveley, Bentley, Bexley, Farley, Hadley, Harley, Keighley, Kempley, Morley, Presley, Raleigh, Riley, Ripley, Thorley, Waverley, Wiley.
For "ash" inspired names we could look to Ash, Ashbrooke, Ashby, Ashley and Ashton.
Symbols
Diamond is the birthstone for April. Its name comes from the Greek ἀδάμας (adamas) meaning “unconquerable, invincible”. Diamond has had usage as a unisex name in Britain, particularly in 1897 when it was used to commemorate Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee. Diamante, Diamantina, Diamantino and Diamando can also be found as variants. In other languages we can find Almas, a unisex Arabic name, Diamanto (Greek), Elmas (Turkish and Intan (Indonesian).
The Daisy and Sweet Pea are April's birth flowers. In Victorian floriography the daisy symbolised innocence, and the sweet pea symbolised delicate pleasures. Daisy has enjoyed much popularity as a name since the late 19th century in Britain. In other countries, the flower name is similarly found in names such as: Ivančica (Croatia), Madelief (Dutch), Margarida (Portuguese), Margarita (Spanish), Marguerite (French) and Margherita (Italian).
Aries, the ram, is the astrological sign that runs from March 21 - April 20. His Greek name is Krios "ram" and appears in ancient mythology as one of the Titan sons of Ouranos "sky" and Gaia "earth". He and three of his brothers represented the four pillars of the earth: Krios was the South. He was married to Eurybia, a goddess of the sea.
Name Days
Many different countries have names associated with days of the year; most often they are the feast days of saints. Below are some of the names associated with the days in April around the world.
1 = Hugh / Hugo, Harald, Theodora / Teodora, Valeric
2 = Aron, Francis, Sandra / Sandrine, Urban, Zita
3 = Agape, Ferdinand, Nicetas, Richard
4 = Ambrose, Benedict, Isidore, Marianne, Plato
5 = Beccan, Irene, Gerald, Miroslava, Vincent
6 = Celestine, Celestina, Sixtus, Timothy, William
7 = Allan, Finian, Herman Joseph, Jean-Baptiste, Zinaida
8 = Albert, Beate, Dionysius, Julia, Walter
9 = Elias, Gautier, Otto, Ottilia, Waltrude
10 = Antoni, Apollonius, Engelbert, Ezekiel
11 = Aedh, Isaac, Leo, Stanislas, Ulf, Ylva
12 = Constantine, Damian, Julius, Odo, Victor, Zeno
13 = Artur, Hermenegild, Ida, Justin, Martin
14 = Ellinor, Ludivine, Maximus, Tiburtius, Valerian
15 = Anastasia, Basilissa, Helena, Olympia, Ruadhan
16 = Benedict, Bernadette, Joachim, Magnus, Patrick
17 = Anicetus, Leonidas, Robert, Rudolf, Stephen
18 = Ancia, Eleutherius, Laura, Valdemar
19 = Anthony, Daniel, Emma, Gerold, Leon
20 = Agnes, Amalia, James, Marcel, Odette, Simon
21 = Alexandra, Anastasius, Anselm, Feliks, Konrad
22 = Alfred, Caius, Leonidas, Nathaniel, Rufus, Theodore
23 = Adalbert, George, Gerard
24 = Albert, Egbert, Elizabeth, Ervina, Fidelis, Wilfrid
25 = Erwin, Franco, Ivo, Marek, Mark
26 = Alida, Cletus, Odo, Theresa
27 = Charles, Jaroslav, Klementine, Zita
28 = Louis, Peter, Tyra, Valeria, Vivian
29 = Augustin, Catherine, Hugh / Hugo, Robert, Tyko
30 = James / Jacob, Liliana, Miriam, Pius / Pio, Sophia
