2027 Forecast

May · Green

May birthstone: Emerald

The birthstone for May is Emerald. The modern and traditional lists agree here; they part company on only 2 of the 12 months.

1912 jewelers’ list
Emerald Kansas City, as Kunz records it
Older lists
Agate · 5 of 8 Kunz’s tally of 8 old lists
May births
8.35% #5 of 12 months, US 2000–2014

Kunz 1913; US births 2000–2014.

The months either side, and the same month in flowers: April birthstone, June birthstone and May birth flower.

All twelve months, modern and traditional lists in one table: birthstones by month.

May Birthstone: Emerald — Meaning, Color and Flower
Modern birthstone Emerald
Traditional birthstone Emerald
Color Green
Birth flower Lily of the Valley and Hawthorn
Zodiac signs Taurus, Gemini
Hardness (Mohs) 7.5–8

Egyptian emerald mines near the Red Sea supplied the ancient world for over a thousand years before Spanish colonizers found the far richer Colombian deposits in the 1500s.

May stones in detail

Emerald

Composition Beryllium aluminum silicate (Be₃Al₂Si₆O₁₈) colored by chromium or vanadium
Hardness · Crystal system 7.5–8 · Hexagonal
Mined in Colombia, Zambia, Brazil, Ethiopia, Afghanistan

Almost every emerald contains internal fractures — the trade calls them jardin, "garden". A flawless emerald is more suspicious than impressive.

Traditionally linked to loyalty, growth and honest speech.

Care. Warm soapy water and nothing else. Never ultrasonic — nearly all emeralds are oil-treated to fill fractures, and ultrasound drives the oil out.

Spotting a fake. A flawless emerald should raise suspicion rather than excitement: genuine stones nearly always show internal fractures the trade calls jardin. Perfectly clean green stones are usually glass or synthetic.

How Emerald became the May birthstone

Emerald comes, through Latin smaragdus, from the Greek smaragdos — a word once used for almost any green stone. Mughal emperors had large emeralds carved with prayers; the 217-carat Mogul Mughal emerald, dated to 1695, is the best-known example. Long before Europeans arrived, emeralds were mined at Chivor, in Muisca territory, and at Muzo, held by the Muzo people — both still among the finest sources in the world.

Choosing a May stone

The most valued emeralds are a pure to slightly bluish green with strong saturation; yellowish or pale stones cost much less. Colombian stones are known for a warm, vivid green and Zambian ones for a cooler, bluer tone. The step-cut "emerald cut" was developed for this stone because it protects the brittle corners while showing off the color, and it remains the safest shape for a ring. Lab-grown emerald gives a clean, saturated stone at a fraction of the price.

Primary source

May in George Kunz’s Curious Lore of Precious Stones (1913)

The verse for May
“Who first beholds the light of day In spring’s sweet flow’ry month of May, And wears an emerald all her life, Shall be a loved and happy wife.”
George Frederick Kunz, The Curious Lore of Precious Stones (Philadelphia and London: J. B. Lippincott, 1913), chapter IX, “Birth-Stones” — read the original text. Kunz’s traditional stone for May is emerald, and the jewelers’ list adopted in Kansas City in 1912 kept it. In his tally of eight older lists, May went to agate in 5 of them, emerald in 4, chalcedony in 1, carnelian in 1 — some lists give a month two stones. Which lists Kunz compared, and where the verses come from →

May birth flowers

Lily of the Valley

Traditionally signifies returning happiness.

Hawthorn

Traditionally signifies hope.

More on May birth flowers →

If you go by zodiac sign instead

May spans two signs — Taurus and Gemini — and the zodiac stone list does not match the monthly one. Which applies to you depends on the day, not just the month.

Taurus stones · Gemini stones

Questions about the May birthstone

What is the birthstone for May?

The modern May birthstone is Emerald.

What color is the May birthstone?

Green.

What is the May birth flower?

Lily of the Valley and Hawthorn; the lily of the valley traditionally signifies returning happiness.

Is Emerald hard enough to wear every day?

Emerald rates 7.5–8 on the Mohs scale. It can be worn often, with care around knocks, heat and ultrasonic cleaners, which open its oiled fractures.

What zodiac signs fall in May?

Taurus and Gemini.

Other months

January February March April June July August September October November December

Measured against our reference of 43 stones

The May stones, by hardness

Emerald · modern and traditional Mohs 7.5–8 · +1.4 vs average · wear with care
Agate · alternative Mohs 6.5–7 · +0.4 vs average · everyday ring
Average across all 43 stones Mohs 6.35
Modern and traditional the same stone
May birthstones on the Mohs hardness scale
May birthstones on the Mohs hardness scaleMohs scale from talc (1) to diamond (10) with the May birthstones marked: Emerald 7.5–8.Emerald: Mohs 7.5–8Emerald 7.5–8Garnet: Mohs 6.5–7.5Amethyst: Mohs 7Citrine: Mohs 7Rose Quartz: Mohs 7Clear Quartz: Mohs 7Smoky Quartz: Mohs 7Aquamarine: Mohs 7.5–8Emerald: Mohs 7.5–8Bloodstone: Mohs 6.5–7Peridot: Mohs 6.5–7Sardonyx: Mohs 6.5–7Zircon: Mohs 6–7.5Carnelian: Mohs 6.5–7Onyx: Mohs 6.5–7Agate: Mohs 6.5–7Tiger's Eye: Mohs 6.5–7Aventurine: Mohs 6.5–7Diamond: Mohs 10Pearl: Mohs 2.5–4.5Alexandrite: Mohs 8.5Moonstone: Mohs 6–6.5Labradorite: Mohs 6–6.5Pyrite: Mohs 6–6.5Ruby: Mohs 9Sapphire: Mohs 9Spinel: Mohs 8Topaz: Mohs 8Opal: Mohs 5.5–6.5Rhodonite: Mohs 5.5–6.5Tourmaline: Mohs 7–7.5Turquoise: Mohs 5–6Lapis Lazuli: Mohs 5–6Hematite: Mohs 5–6Tanzanite: Mohs 6–7Jade: Mohs 6–7Obsidian: Mohs 5–5.5Malachite: Mohs 3.5–4Amber: Mohs 2–2.5Selenite: Mohs 2Fluorite: Mohs 4Sodalite: Mohs 5.5–6Kyanite: Mohs 4.5–7Lepidolite: Mohs 2.5–31Talc2Gypsum3Calcite4Fluorite5Apatite6Orthoclase7Quartz8Topaz9Corundum10Diamondfingernail 2.5window glass 5.5household dust (quartz) 7Source: Mohs scale minerals · ranges from our 43-stone referenceastrohot.com
May birthstones on the Mohs hardness scaleMohs scale from talc (1) to diamond (10) with the May birthstones marked: Emerald 7.5–8.Emerald: Mohs 7.5–8Emerald 7.5–81Talc2Gypsum3Calcite4Fluorite5Apatite6Orthoclase7Quartz8Topaz9Corundum10Diamondfingernail 2.5glass 5.5dust 7Source: Mohs scale minerals · ranges from our 43-stone referenceastrohot.com

May on the scale: Emerald 7.5–8. Of the twelve months’ first-listed modern stones, Emerald is joint 5th hardest.

Emerald: Beryllium aluminum silicate (Be₃Al₂Si₆O₁₈) colored by chromium or vanadium. Crystal system Hexagonal. At Mohs 7 or above it survives everyday dust, which is quartz at exactly 7.

Who this month covers

Days in May 31
Taurus · May 1–20 64.6% of May births
Gemini · May 21–31 35.4% of May births

Taurus takes the larger part of May, 20 days against 11 for Gemini, which in US births for 2000–2014 came to 64.6% of the month. Exact sign dates →

Sources

  1. George Frederick Kunz, The Curious Lore of Precious Stones (Philadelphia and London: J. B. Lippincott, 1913), chapter IX, “Birth-Stones”

Statements of fact on this page were checked against these sources in October 2026. How we choose and check sources: editorial policy.

Cite this page

AstroHot. “May Birthstone: Emerald — Meaning, Color and Flower.” Accessed October 28, 2026. https://astrohot.com/birthstones/by-month/may/

For Wikipedia {{cite web |title=May Birthstone: Emerald — Meaning, Color and Flower |url=https://astrohot.com/birthstones/by-month/may/ |website=AstroHot |access-date=2026-10-28}}