I know ... not very timely ... but down my way this year's Spring has been long coming. Anyway to my query. The wiki entry for Easter states this regarding the word:
'The English and German names, "Easter" and "Ostern", are not etymologically derived from Pesach [from Hebrew passover] and are instead related to ancient names for the month of April, Eostremonat and Ostaramanoth respectively. According to the 8th century Christian monk and historian Bede, this month was dedicated to the pagan fertility goddess Eostre.'
Numerous other articles I've read state unequivocally that the etymology Eostre > Easter is correct. I didn't really doubt that until I peered into my new and very authoritative German etymological dictionary. It states that the word's origins are simply unclear and then tries to make some tenuous connection through various prefixes and word fragments, but clearly denies any possible link to 'Eostre' and poo-poos any pagan roots of the word, disregarding the heathan festival almost entirely in it's extensive description. I'm beginning to feel the book has a bias. Any comments?
