Gemstone names have been used in English since the Victorian era, when Ruby, Pearl, Opal, and Garnet were fashionable choices. Ruby has never left the charts; Pearl and Opal are reviving; Crystal (1980s) has faded; and newer gem names (Jasper, Onyx) are climbing for the first time.
Here's the complete picture from 2024 US data.
Girls: Gemstone Names
Ruby — #63 (3,517 babies). The red gemstone; Latin rubeus (red). Ruby has been in the top 100 for over a decade and is still climbing. It has the vintage quality of the Edwardian-era gemstone names (it was popular in the 1890s–1910s) combined with an undeniable brightness. Ruby doesn't feel old-fashioned — it's recovered completely from its mid-century decline.
Jade — #84 (2,931 babies). The green stone; from Spanish piedra de ijada (stone of the flank). Jade has been in the top 100 for twenty years — one of the most established gemstone names. It works for both boys and girls in data, but in US charts is primarily feminine. Jade Jagger (Mick Jagger's daughter) and the general 1990s gemstone trend established it.
Gemma — #203 (1,514 babies). Latin gemma (gem, precious stone). Technically a name meaning gem rather than naming a specific stone, but deeply in the gemstone tradition. Common in Italy (Dante's wife was Gemma Donati) and increasingly in the US since around 2010. Still climbing.
Ivory — #404 (784 babies). The material from elephant tusks; Latin ebur. Ivory is in the gemstone-and-precious-material category along with Silver and Gold. It has a warm, tactile quality that has placed it mid-chart.
Opal — #450 (694 babies). The iridescent gemstone; Sanskrit upala (precious stone). Opal was popular in the Victorian and Edwardian eras (1890–1920s) and has been in the early stages of a vintage revival since around 2015. The play-of-color quality of opals — they seem to contain multiple colors — gives the name a magical quality.
Amber — #541 (558 babies). Fossilized tree resin used as a gemstone; Arabic 'anbar. Amber peaked in the late 1980s and 1990s (#16 in 1987) and has been declining since. It's now mid-chart and continuing slowly downward — one of the examples of a gemstone name that became era-specific.
Emerald — #707 (396 babies). The green gemstone; Latin smaragdus. Emerald is still niche but has been climbing since around 2010. The Wizard of Oz Emerald City association gives it a fairy-tale quality.
Pearl — #802 (350 babies). The organic gem from oysters; Latin perla. Pearl was a top-20 name in the 1890s and has been in very gradual revival since around 2010. It was in Janis Joplin's nickname (Pearl), and Pearl Jam kept it in the cultural vocabulary through the 1990s. Still niche but climbing.
Sapphire — #1,037 (242 babies). The blue gemstone; Greek sappheiros. Sapphire is still quite rare but has been climbing since around 2015. The deep blue color association makes it visually distinctive.
Crystal — #1,176 (203 babies). The transparent mineral. Crystal peaked in 1982 at #9 — driven by the TV show Dynasty's Crystal Carrington — and has been declining ever since. It's now at #1,176, still present but clearly dated. See pop culture names.
Coral — #1,893 (105 babies). The ocean organism used as a pinkish-orange gem; Latin corallium. Coral is the gemstone name that's furthest from the mainstream but has the most potential — it has a soft, natural quality and fits the current interest in nature names.
Boys: Gemstone Names
Jasper — #133 (2,750 babies). The reddish-brown gemstone mineral; Greek iaspis. Jasper is the gemstone name that has been climbing fastest for boys. It was outside the top 300 in 2010 and is now top 135. It has a Victorian-antiquarian quality (Jasper Johns, Jasper Conran) and a Twilight association (Jasper Hale) that accelerated its rise in the early 2010s. Now climbing on its own vintage merits.
Onyx — #358 (927 boys; also #1,248 for girls with 186 babies). The black banded stone; Greek onux (claw, nail, onyx). Onyx has been climbing rapidly for boys since around 2018. It has a boldness and specificity that makes it different from most gem names — the color is black, which is unusual in naming. Still growing fast.
Sterling — #372 (880 boys; also #1,117 for girls with 218 babies). Sterling silver; the English currency standard; from the Old English. Sterling is more of a material name than a gemstone name, but it fits the same tradition. It has a quietly aspirational quality.
Jet — #1,355 (140 boys). The black gemstone (fossilized wood); French jaiet. Jet is the short, sharp gemstone name for boys. Still niche but fits the current taste for one-syllable names.
The gemstone naming arc
Victorian peak, mid-century trough, current revival. Ruby, Pearl, Opal, and Garnet were all popular in the 1890s–1910s. They fell from fashion in the 1940s–1980s when more modern-sounding names took over. Ruby came back first (mid-2000s); Opal and Pearl are now in the early stages of revival. Garnet and Beryl have not yet returned.
The 1980s–90s wave is fading. Crystal, Amber, and Jade all peaked in this era. Crystal is now clearly dated. Amber is declining. Jade has held better than the others, possibly because it's associated with Asian aesthetics and the broader vintage revival of compact, direct names.
The new wave: Jasper and Onyx. These two are climbing fast. They fit the current trend for names that are short, specific, slightly unusual, and carry a strong visual image. Jasper's warm reddish-brown and Onyx's black are both striking color associations.
What's next. Opal and Pearl are the most likely candidates for the next tier of revival. Garnet, Sapphire, and Topaz are interesting but remain niche. Coral has potential if the ocean-nature trend continues.
Explore related topics: nature names · vintage comeback names
Data: SSA 2024 US release.