Easter Date Calculator
In the Western Christian Church, Easter falls on the first Sunday after the Paschal Full Moon (PFM). Easter can be as early as March 22 or as late as April 25. The PFM is an ecclesiastical full moon that does not necessarily correspond to a true astronomical full moon, but rather its date depends on lunar months. The Paschal Full Moon may occur as many as two days before or after an actual full moon.
You can compute the date of Easter by using the tables given below, or you can use the convenient calculator on the left. The tables will give you the date of Easter for any year between 326 AD and 4099 AD, while the calculator only gives Easter dates from 1583 to 4099.
See also the calculators for Good Friday, Palm Sunday, and Ash Wednesday.
Tabular Method for Computing Easter Sunday
The first step is to divide the year by 19 and take the remainder. Then look up the PFM date in the table below by finding where the remainder row and year range column intersect. For example, if want to find the Paschal Full Mood date for 2003, we first compute 2003/19, which gives a remainder of 8. This means the PFM is on April 16.Paschal Full Moon Dates by Year Divide year by 19 to find remainder (blue column) and cross-reference with year range. | ||||||||||||
Year mod 19 |
Year Range | |||||||||||
326 to 1582 |
1583 to 1699 |
1700 to 1899 |
1900 to 2199 |
2200 to 2299 2400 to 2499 |
2300 to 2399 2500 to 2599 |
2600 to 2899 |
2900 to 3099 |
3100 to 3399 |
3400 to 3499 3600 to 3699 |
3500 to 3599 3700 to 3799 |
3800 to 4099 |
|
0 | A5 | A12 | A13 | A14 | A15 | A16 | A17 | A18 | A18 | M21 | M22 | M23 |
1 | M25 | A1 | A2 | A3 | A4 | A5 | A6 | A7 | A8 | A9 | A10 | A11 |
2 | A13 | M21 | M22 | M23 | M24 | M25 | M26 | M27 | M28 | M29 | M30 | M31 |
3 | A2 | A9 | A10 | A11 | A12 | A13 | A14 | A15 | A16 | A17 | A18 | A18 |
4 | M22 | M29 | M30 | M31 | A1 | A2 | A3 | A4 | A5 | A6 | A7 | A8 |
5 | A10 | A17 | A18 | A18 | M21 | M22 | M23 | M24 | M25 | M26 | M27 | M28 |
6 | M30 | A6 | A7 | A8 | A9 | A10 | A11 | A12 | A13 | A14 | A15 | A16 |
7 | A18 | M26 | M27 | M28 | M29 | M30 | M31 | A1 | A2 | A3 | A4 | A5 |
8 | A7 | A14 | A15 | A16 | A17 | A18 | A18 | M21 | M22 | M23 | M24 | M25 |
9 | M27 | A3 | A4 | A5 | A6 | A7 | A8 | A9 | A10 | A11 | A12 | A13 |
10 | A15 | M23 | M24 | M25 | M26 | M27 | M28 | M29 | M30 | M31 | A1 | A2 |
11 | A4 | A11 | A12 | A13 | A14 | A15 | A16 | A17 | A17 | A18 | M21 | M22 |
12 | M24 | M31 | A1 | A2 | A3 | A4 | A5 | A6 | A7 | A8 | A9 | A10 |
13 | A12 | A18 | M21 | M22 | M23 | M24 | M25 | M26 | M27 | M28 | M29 | M30 |
14 | A1 | A8 | A9 | A10 | A11 | A12 | A13 | A14 | A15 | A16 | A17 | A17 |
15 | M21 | M28 | M29 | M30 | M31 | A1 | A2 | A3 | A4 | A5 | A6 | A7 |
16 | A9 | A16 | A17 | A17 | A18 | M21 | M22 | M23 | M24 | M25 | M26 | M27 |
17 | M29 | A5 | A6 | A7 | A8 | A9 | A10 | A11 | A12 | A13 | A14 | A15 |
18 | A17 | M25 | M26 | M27 | M28 | M29 | M30 | M31 | A1 | A2 | A3 | A4 |
Next, we need to figure out the next Sunday after PFM. To do this, we must find three numbers A, B, and C from the tables below. The value of A is determined by the PFM date. The value of B depends on the first two digits of the year number. And the value of C depends on the last two digits of the year number.
Find the number between 0 and 6 that corresponds to your PFM date. Call this number A. | ||||||
M21 | M22 | M23 | M24 | M25 | ||
M26 | M27 | M28 | M29 | M30 | M31 | A1 |
A2 | A3 | A4 | A5 | A6 | A7 | A8 |
A9 | A10 | A11 | A12 | A13 | A14 | A15 |
A16 | A17 | A18 | ||||
0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 |
Find the number between 0 and 6 that corresponds to the first two digits of the year. Call this number B. | ||||||
03 | 04 | 05 | ||||
06 | 07 | 08 | 09 | 10 | 11 | 12 |
13 | 14 | 15* | 15** | 16 | ||
17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | |||
21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | |||
25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | |||
29 | 30 | 31 | 32 | |||
33 | 34 | 35 | 36 | |||
37 | 38 | 39 | 40 | |||
6 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 |
* 1500-1582: select 4 ** 1583-1599: select 1 |
Find the number between 0 and 6 that corresponds to the last two digits of the year. Call this number C. | ||||||
00 | 01 | 02 | 03 | 04 | 05 | |
06 | 07 | 08 | 09 | 10 | 11 | |
12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | ||
17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | |
23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | ||
28 | 29 | 30 | 31 | 32 | 33 | |
34 | 35 | 36 | 37 | 38 | 39 | |
40 | 41 | 42 | 43 | 44 | ||
45 | 46 | 47 | 48 | 49 | 50 | |
51 | 52 | 53 | 54 | 55 | ||
56 | 57 | 58 | 59 | 60 | 61 | |
62 | 63 | 64 | 65 | 66 | 67 | |
68 | 69 | 70 | 71 | 72 | ||
73 | 74 | 75 | 76 | 77 | 78 | |
79 | 80 | 81 | 82 | 83 | ||
84 | 85 | 86 | 87 | 88 | 89 | |
90 | 91 | 92 | 93 | 94 | 95 | |
96 | 97 | 98 | 99 | |||
0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 |
For example, using the PFM date of April 16, 2003, we get
A = 0
B = 0
C = 3
Now add up A, B, and C to get a number between 0 and 18, and use the table below to find the value of D that corresponds to your sum. In this example, our sum is 3, which corresponds to D = 4.
Compute A + B + C. Find the number between 1 and 7 that corresponds to the sum. Call this number D. | ||||||
0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 |
7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 |
14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | ||
7 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 |
Finally, add the value of D to your Paschal Full Moon date to calculate the date of Easter. Using the example, since our PFM is April 16 and D = 4, the date of Easter Sunday in 2003 is April 20.
Note that if your PFM is in late March, adding D to the PFM date will put you in April. For example, if the PFM is March 29 and D = 7, the Easter Sunday falls on April 5.
© Had2Know 2010