APRIL MAYBERRY

From the month (Latin (mensis) aprilis, probably a derivative of aperire ‘to open’, as the month when buds open and flowers appear). It forms part of a series with May and June, all names taken from months associated with the spring, a time of new birth and growth, and may originally have been intended as an English version of the supposedly French name Avril.

English and Irish: of uncertain origin; most probably an altered form of Mowbray. It is also found as Maybury, which has the form of an English habitational name. There is a place near Woking in Surrey so called; however, this is not recorded until 1885 and is probably derived from the surname. In England this surname is found mainly in the West Midlands; it has also spread into Wales. In Ireland this form is common in Ulster; MacLysaght records that it was taken there from England in the 17th century.