Why do we say 'Good' Friday?

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It may seem odd that Christians call their day of greatest sorrow Good Friday. The confusion arises from how we perceive the word Good. Here it is used in the archaic sense of 'holy' or momentous: 

Good Friday, called Feria VI in Parasceve in the Roman Missal, he hagia kai megale paraskeue (the Holy and Great Friday) in the Greek Liturgy, Holy Friday in Romance languages, Charfreitag Sorrowful Friday in German source

In other words, Good marks the uniqueness of the Passion. It affirms the centrality of the crucifixion and resurrection to the Christian faith.

Good Friday Observance

Interestingly, there are different approaches to marking Good Friday, depending on denomination, and in some cases, individual churches. 

Catholics and (some) high Anglicans have a formal, structured series of events during the day: in the morning the Stations of the Cross, with a Passion service between 12.00 and 15.00. Traditionally, there is also a stricter observance of the 'no meat Friday' custom.

Protestant/evangelical traditions are more varied but broadly much more emphasis is placed on Easter Sunday. Some churches do have a service to mark the crucifixion but others, pointedly, do not.