Fifty-three percent (53%) of Americans say Easter is one of the nation’s most important holidays, according to a new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey. That's up seven points from a year ago.

Just seven percent (7%) consider it one of the least important holidays, and 38% say it's somewhere in between the most important and the least important.

More Evangelical Christians (78%) deem the holiday, which commemorates the resurrection of Jesus Christ, as one of the most important ones than do other Protestants (53%) and Catholics (50%).

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This Easter, 78% of adults say they will celebrate the holiday with a family meal. Only 17% will not, and five percent (5%) aren’t sure.

Women (85%) are much more likely to have dinner with their families than men (70%). In addition, younger Americans are more likely to be eating with family than their elders. (see crosstabs).

A plurality of adults (46%) say they’ll participate in an Easter egg hunt this year. That’s up slightly from last year, when 40% said they would search for Easter eggs. A slightly greater percentage (48%) will not be involved in an egg hunt. Six percent (6%) aren’t sure if they’ll be hunting or hiding from the pastime.

Not surprisingly, adults who are married (52%) and have children (67%) are much more likely to go hunting eggs this year than those who are not married (34%) or have no children (27%).

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