Name of Easter

The word "Easter" is not found in the Biblical record of the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Why, then, is the holiday called Easter? One possibility is that the name comes from the word "oster" meaning "to rise" referring to Christ's rising from the dead. The Venerable Bede around the beginning of the eighth century said that the word "Easter" was derived from Eastre, or Eostre, a northern goddess of spring and the dawn whose principle celebrations were held about the time of the vernal equinox.