Azul

Azul is the Spanish and Portuguese word for “blue” which has recently appeared as a female given name in the United States and Catalonia, Spain. Using the name Azul for girls is akin to names like Biana or Blanche (the Italian and French words for “white” respectively), or other popular English “color” names such as Ruby, Scarlett, Violet, Amber or Jade (Azure is the English equivalent to the Spanish Azul). Azul can find its etymological roots in the Medieval Latin “lazulum” meaning “heaven, sky” which was borrowed from the Persian لازورد “lāzaward” meaning the same. Lāzhward was the ancient location where the semi-precious stone “lapis lazuli” was mined (modern-day northeastern Afghanistan); a stone prized for its deep blue color and often referred to as the “stone of heaven”, “sky stone” or “blue stone”. The ancient Afghanis were active in their trade of lapis lazuli to the ancient civilizations of Egypt, Mesopotamia, Greece and later to the Romans (Cleopatra used a powdered-down element of the stone for her eye shadow). So ultimately “Azul” gets her “blue” color from this ancient cherished stone.