What’s in a name?

Gemstones have some very interesting and sometimes hard to pronounce names. Gemstone can be named after the person who first discovered them, for their mineral make up, where they are found in the world and what kind of rocks they are found around.

Morganite is a semi-precious gemstone that is normally pink in color. This gemstone was named after the famed banker J.P. Morgan. Morganite was first discovered in 1911 but was later named after and in honor of Morgan, by gemologist George Fredrick Kunz, due to his extensive gem collection and his philanthropic work.

The name Calcite comes from the Latin word meaning “Lime” as calcite is made up of the shells of marine organisms. If you ever get the chance to search through a limestone driveway, you can usually find many marine fossils. Limestone and calcite go hand in hand.

Labradorite is named for the place it was first discovered, Labrador, Canada. The stone was first discovered in 1770 by Moravian Missionaries on Paul Island. Legend has it that the Northern Lights are stuck inside these gemstones, giving them their iridescent sheen.

So where did the suffix -ite come from in all of these stone names? Ite comes from the Greek word “ites” meaning rock or stone.