Why is Good Friday called Good Friday, and why are bunnies associated with Easter?

The name "Good Friday" seems a little bit misleading, considering it is the day that Jesus was crucified on the cross.

But there is a good reason (no pun intended) the day is called "Good Friday", and it all has to do with etymology.

But first, what is Good Friday?

Good Friday marks the first of the three holy days of Easter, symbolising the central message of the Christian faith – the suffering, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

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Good Friday is the day Jesus was condemned to death and crucified on the cross by the Romans for being a perceived threat to authority.

On this day, Christians thank him for his sacrifice by taking the day to reflect, be silent, and fast.

The 15th hour of the day is widely considered to be the time he died, and so many liturgies are performed in churches at this time. He was then buried in a tomb the next day.

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The day after that, on what we now know as the third day of Easter, the tomb Christ was buried in was found empty.

It was first believed the body had been stolen, despite constant guard presence – at least until Jesus appeared in front of his disciples, having overcome death.

He then ascended to Heaven, taking his place on the right hand of God, according to the Apostles' Creed.

Why is it called 'Good Friday'?

There are many theories as to why the holy day is known as "Good" Friday.

For instance, many believed that "Good" was an alternate spelling of "God", just as our modern word "Goodbye" came from the phrase "God be with ye".

But this theory has been largely debunked.

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"The origin from God is out of the question" Professor Anatoly Liberman from the University of Minnesota told Slate.

Linguist and lexicographer Ben Zimmer seconded this, also telling Slate, "None of the early examples in the Oxford English Dictionary imply that it started off as God's rather than Good, so I don't really see this as more than speculative etymology."

It's important to know that Good Friday isn't known as "Good" everywhere.

There are different names for it all around the world. There is a largely held misconception that the German phrase for the holiday is "Gottes Freitag", translating to "God's Friday", when it is actually Karfreitag, or "Sorrowful Friday".

In Russian, the phrase translates to "Passion Friday", whereas for the Romance languages, the word translates to "Sacred Friday".

"The answer seems pretty clearly to be that it's from good 'holy'," said Jesse Sheidlower, the president of the American Dialect Society to Slate.

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The Oxford English Dictionary additionally notes that there was once "Good Wednesday", the Wednesday before Easter, which is now more commonly known as "Holy Wednesday".

This helps contextualise the name of the holiday with the events that occurred on that day.

Despite the rather tragic occurrence of Jesus Christ dying on the cross, without this event, there would be nothing to save his people from sin, thus making the name appropriate for the occasion, despite appearing otherwise.

And while we're on the topic of Easter, why are bunnies associated with it?

Why are bunnies associated with Easter?

Cute little bunnies, chicks and colourful decorative eggs – all of them likely stem from pagan traditions.

The celebration of the pagan goddess Eostre, the goddess of fertility of humans and crops, was held during the Spring equinox, a time for rebirth and new life.

The German goddess' symbols included the rabbit (which are known as good breeders) and eggs (symbols of new life), as well as the colours green, purple, and yellow.

The tradition of the Easter bunny is believed to stem from the Eostre celebration, helped along by the arrival of German immigrants in America in the 1700s.

As Time reports, some sources believe that German immigrants brought with them their fable of an egg-laying hare called "Osterhase" or "Oschter Haws" who would deliver well-behaved children colored eggs in nests they made in their caps and bonnets before Easter.

Eggs eventually expanded to chocolate and other gifts, decorated baskets replaced hats, and children left out carrots for the bunny in case it got hungry from all it's hard work.

There is evidently much overlap with Easter, and many pagans believe Christians have adopted pagan traditions, aligning them with the narrative of the rebirth of Jesus Christ.